Another Month, Another Move
by Teh K9
Summary: AU Ino is the daughter of a navy soldier who every few months moves his family to a new town. Her latest destination? Konoha. And Shikamaru's the one who has to show her around. ShikaIno
1. Principal's Office

_**Day One**_

"Another month, another move."

Sixteen-year-old Yamanaka Ino shifted the backpack on her shoulders and sighed. She stared up at the title sign of her new school – Konoha High. It wasn't easy for her, you know, being the daughter of a naval officer. Every few months they had to move to a new base, always uprooting the family so they can stay together. She really, _really_ hated it. Sure, she'd been to some wonderful places. Sure, she'd met some interesting people, and even got to see them a second time if they ever returned to that base again. But this place was new. She hated new. New was an awful thing.

Her mother had assured her it wasn't _technically_ new… Konoha had been where she was born, after all. But they moved when she was two! There begins the wonderful life of the ever-moving Yamanakas.

People stared at Ino as they walked inside the school. Was that girl just going to stand there and stare at the sign all day? She must have mental issues.

She groaned, _might as well get it over with, _and stepped inside. The instant, loud noise of chattering teenagers startled her. _The morning crowd, figures,_ Ino inwardly groaned, _every school has one._

She looked around, a little confused, "Now where's the principal's office…?" She frowned, and then sighed heavily, "Crap." Ino hated talking to people she didn't know. New people weren't her favorite kind. No, not at all. She looked around, trying to find someone relatively _nice_ that could help her out. Someone who also didn't look like they had much else to do, who couldn't say no…

She spotted a black-haired boy sitting on the ground, looking to be half-asleep. His hair was tied back, making him look like a pineapple. He didn't look busy, no, not at all! Ino grinned and took action.

"Hey, you!" Ino stood right before the boy. He grunted, opening one eye to look at her. When he didn't reply, she continued, "Can you show me to the principal's office?"

He still didn't respond. She frowned, disappointed, "Please?"

"School hasn't even started yet," He mumbled, not moving or showing any interest of helping, "Have you really already gotten in trouble?"

"I'm new here."

"Bah," The boy shifted a little, but still didn't seem to want to help her, "Find someone else."

"Please? I'll be your best friend!" She kneeled in front of him to make better eye contact. He opened the other eye, glaring at her. She put on a pleading face, "It won't be much work at all! I just need to get to the principal's office, after all."

The boy groaned, "Fine," Ino squealed in delight and jumped to her feet. He took his time standing up, grabbing his bag and swinging it over his shoulder, "Follow me, and don't get lost. These crowds can separate people easily." He turned and started to go, but Ino grabbed his arm. He turned back and raised an eyebrow.

"I don't want to get lost." She laughed.

"Right," He turned back and shoved through the crowd, Ino in tow. When they got into the main hall, the crowd had lessened. "You can let go of me now, you know." Ino did, and caught up to walk by his side. "What's your name, anyway?"

"Yamanaka Ino." She smiled, "Call me Ino. And you?"

"Nara Shikamaru."

"So, Shika," She smiled at him, "Which way to the office?"

"First off, _don't_ call me Shika," he growled, "I wasn't given a long name just so people could slaughter it. Second, it's right there." He pointed to the door beside him.

"Thank you!" She smiled at him, "I appreciate it."

"Yeah, yeah."

She stepped into the office and instantly lost her smile. _He's cute, I guess. Attitude's a little messed up. Doesn't matter though, right? I'll move before anything will ever happen._

Oh, how Ino _hated_ new.

* * *

First period: Chemistry. _This_ would be exciting. Science wasn't really one of Ino's best subjects. Yes, she could _pass_ it, and yes, she did just _fine _in it. Actually, she was wonderful in biology. Chemistry, though, was a _whole different matter._

The class was all the way on the far end of the school, and the bell had just rung. Ah well, she had a pass from the principal anyway. It didn't really make that big of a deal… she'd just have to make that dramatic new-kid entrance into the class, like she had already done so many times before. She hated that entrance.

She soon reached the class and sighed, _may as well get this over with quickly. _She swiftly pushed the door open and walked up to the teacher's desk. She wasn't _busy,_ really, just taking attendance. She placed… well, no, more like slammed her pass onto his desk, and he looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. He sighed, then took the pass and asked, "And you are?"

"Yamanaka Ino, new student." She rushed, and the teacher nodded. He threw her pass in the trash can beside him, and then scanned the classroom for an empty disk, "Ah, there, sit behind Temari. My name is Iruka, by the way."

Ino nodded and walked to her desk, dropped her book bag beside her and fished out her things. She briefly looked up when she bent down towards her bag, and noticed who she sat beside.

"Well, well, look who's here." Shikamaru mumbled.

"Oh, hey…" Ino sweat-dropped. Shikamaru extended his hand, wiggling his fingers in a "give me" gesture. She cocked an eyebrow.

"Your schedule?"

"Oh, right!" She reached for a bright yellow paper sticking out of her purse on her desk. She had shoved it in there quickly once she had found her first class. She handed it to him and returned to pulling out her chemistry binder.

"English… PE… Webmastering? Man, you've got the same schedule _I_ do…" He groaned, "What a drag."

Ino brightened, "I guess you get to show me around, huh?"

Shikamaru looked at her, scanned her up and down then thought of how she coaxed him into showing her the principal's office that morning, then groaned again, "I guess it does."

* * *

"I'm home!"

Ino slipped off her shoes at the door and threw her bag onto the ground. The apartment was new to her, like so many of the other ones, but apparently not to her parents. This was the apartment they lived in when she was a baby, apparently. They had rented it out themselves, she supposed, so it'd be theirs one day again. It was a shame that took fourteen years to happen, right?

"Over here, honey, I want to show you something!" Her mom called from her chair, waving a hand. Ino sighed and walked up to her, leaning on the back of the chair to look down at book she was holding.

"I found this picture album in one of the moving boxes. You know, one of the ones packed with books I never unpack? It's full of pictures from when you were a baby, when we lived here."

She skimmed through it, letting Ino only briefly see each page. One particular picture stuck out to her, and she asked her mom to stop flipping pages and if she could see the book. Her mom nodded, mentioning a need to start cooking dinner anyway, and handed her the album before she stood up to leave.

Ino took the album and crossed the room to the couch, plopping down on it and flipping pages until she found the picture she was looking for. It was of three small children, age of two, she guessed. The girl in the middle she recognized to be her, but the two on either side she wasn't sure of. The boy on her left had short, spiky, auburn hair, and looked to be eating something, probably a snack given to him just before the picture was taken by his parents. To her other side was another boy, this time with longer black hair in a pineapple-style ponytail, who looked like he was half-asleep. Underneath the picture was written a caption in elegant script: _Ino-Shika-Cho, friends forever!_

_Shika… like Shikamaru, then? Were we all really good friends back then?_

"Mom!" She carried the album into the kitchen and dropped it on the counter, pointing at the picture, "Who are these two?"

"Oh, them," She grinned, "That's Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji. They were two of your best friends back then, mainly because all your dads were already such good buddies; they'd all take you three to the park some days so the three of you could be friends too. Well, that and their moms and I forced them to so we'd have a break." She laughed.

Ino studied the picture, "I met Shikamaru today."

"Oh? Did you?"

"He has all my classes, actually." She laughed. "And I think I have one or two with Choji too. I'm pretty sure I saw Shikamaru hanging around with someone by that name… anyway, I have homework. I'll get to work on that."

* * *

**_Day Two_**

Ino walked into her 2nd period English class the next day in the worst mood. She already had a ton of homework from chemistry, and the idea of having even _more_ from English didn't sound exciting in the least. She sighed, at least the school here worked out with only four periods in the day in order to lessen the homework load. But guess what that means? _The teachers assign twice the homework!_

She plopped down in her seat and groaned inwardly. Across the classroom, Shikamaru slumped in his chair, ready for the day to be over already. Choji, or at least who she _assumed_ to be Choji (he fit the description enough: chubby, spiky, auburn hair) whispered something to him and laughed, the Shikamaru snorted and said something back. The whole time she felt like he was staring at her. Choji laughed again, seeming to be sneaking chips without their teacher noticing. She shook her head and rested it on her desk.

"Hey!"

Ino jumped in her seat, and then looked to the person beside her. A girl with pink hair grinned in the desk next to her, and waved slightly, "Yamanaka Ino, right? New kid?"

"Yeah…" Ino stared at the girl questionably.

"Haruno Sakura," She extended a hand to shake, "I would've said hello yesterday, but you seemed really out of it… new surroundings, and all, I guess."

"Whatever," Ino shook her hand and sighed, "I'm used to it. Dad's a naval soldier, we move all the time." She scanned the room, then thought of something and smiled at Sakura, "Hey, mind telling me about some of the people here? So I'm not lost, and all."

"Yeah, of course! Like who?"

"How about…" Ino scanned the room again, then pointed at a boy with black, spiky hair, "Him. He looks _hot._"

"Hey!" Sakura half-glared and half-laughed at her, "Don't get any ideas! That's Uchiha Sasuke, and he's _mine_."

"Oh, don't worry…" Ino laughed along, "I might flirt with him if I get the chance, but I'm not interested." _I'll probably move before anything could happen._

"Saskue's the most popular guy in school. He's like a _god!_ He's on the varsity football team, a president of the junior class, member of the National Honor Society, _and_ he's salutatorian."

Ino whistled deeply, "Wow. If he's salutatorian, who's valedictorian?"

Sakura burst into fits of laughter, a tear coming to her eye. "Oh, you're going to _die_ when you hear this one."

"What?" Ino asked, confused.

Sakura wiped her tear and settled down, "You should know him, I saw you two hanging out yesterday. His name is Nara Shikamaru."

Ino's jaw dropped and she froze. Sakura laughed again, and Ino finally regained mobility and forced out: "_That lazy bastard!?_ There's no _way_ he could be _first in the class!_"

"Two words," Sakura held up two fingers, "His mom."

"…Yeah. Definitely explains it."

"Apparently his mom is so freaking strict, she couldn't _stand_ to let him slip by the easy way _even once_, no matter how much he wants to just sit there and do nothing. But yeah, sure he's a genius and all that, but he's got no extracurricular activities. That's probably why he can put it all into his grades, since he doesn't have to waste the time with anything outside of school hours."

"Don't mind my asking, but what about you? What's your rank?"

"Me? I'm third, right behind Sasuke." Sakura shrugged.

"Wow, you're pretty smart too." Ino laughed lightly, "I've never really been around anywhere long enough to see how well I was ranked. I've got my GPA, but never a rank."

"That sucks."

"Yeah, I suppose."

Ino and Sakura talked for a while more, Sakura pointing out most of the other people in the class, until about ten minutes past the bell when their teacher finally walked in. They all stared at him.

"You're late!" The entire class (save Ino) yelled in unison.

Their teacher blinked, "You rehearse that?"

"You're late _every day!_" Sakura yelled at him, slamming her fist into the desk, "Gosh, Kakashi-sensei, get some punctuality!"

"I'm sorry," He scratched his head, "I have first period conference, so I sleep in…"

"_Aren't you supposed to spend that at school!?"_

"Eh," Kakashi shrugged, then walked to his desk, "Is everyone here? Good. Let's start the lesson."

* * *

**So this story was originally going to be just a one-shot, but then I had idea after idea pop up in my head, so I decided to extend it into a multi-chapter story… no idea how long just yet, but yeah.**

**A point I would like to make in this story: I'm basing the school system off of mine, where we have four periods a day, so you would have four classes one semester and a different four the second semester. Some things, like sports/band/choir/orchestra/etc last the whole year, and some are only half a semester, and blah, blah, blah. Don't worry about it, really. Just think _four classes a day!_**

**(I will not get ahead of myself… I will not get ahead of myself… grumble)**

**So that was kind of a dull chapter, but I promise that the next one is really going to kick it up between Ino and Shikamaru. Just you wait!**

**EVERY TIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING, A PONY GETS SLAUGHTERED.**

**Save the ponies, kids.**


	2. Volleyball

_**Day Three**_

Ino _definitely _hated gym.

Gym was never exciting enough for her. She had always wanted to go out for sports, but _thanks to moving_ she couldn't stay around long enough to be anything worthy enough for the team. So guess where she was always stuck? Boring. Old. Gym.

There were a few recognizable kids she knew though. Shikamaru, obviously, was in that class. Of course _he_ would take the easy way out for getting PE credits, being the lazy bastard he was. Sakura was there, as well. She hadn't ever been too interested in sports teams, she had said. And then there were a few familiar faces from other classes of hers: Temari, Kankurou, Gaara, Hinata, and Shino. Then there was a boy Naruto, who Sakura had pointed out earlier. Naruto was always acting up in this class, she had said, since he was so mad about not making the football team, while is _rival_ Sasuke did. Rivals!? Ha! Ino sneered at his vision. There was no _way_ Naruto could beat a _god_ like Uchiha.

But if he could, damnit, she'd definitely acknowledge him for it.

"All right, kids," the coach walked into the gym, flashing a wide smile, "Let's get working! Get into stretch block!"

Coach Gai was one of the _weirdest _coaches Ino had _ever_ come across in her _entire life._ He always rambled on about youth and that nonsense, and he had the _ugliest hairstyle ever!_

"Coach!" A boy ran into the room… a boy who looked _disturbingly_ like their Coach. Ino stared at him in disbelief. Was he a new student too? Wait, no… no one in there right mind would dress like _that_ without previous influence… who was this kid?

"I see you're surprised," Sakura laughed beside her. Ino instantly threw her a look that mixed question in with her disturbed face. "That's Rock Lee, he's a senior. He has PM off so he likes to hang around in the gym with Coach Gai."

"…._why!?"_

"Some kind of idolization," Sakura shrugged, "You know, he's a cross country star. He's the fastest kid in the country, they say."

Ino shook her head, not having really listening anymore since she was still amazed about the fact the someone would idolize Gai enough to the point they would stoop so far as to _look _like him.

"We'll be playing volleyball today! Split up into two teams. Lee! Get the equipment!" Lee saluted to the coach and ran to the storage room. Ino stood up and rested her hands on her hips.

"Ahhh, I hate teams…" Ino shook her head, "I never get picked since I'm the new girl."

"Be on my team. Naruto's probably going to pick me first for his, if he can call captain quick enough. I'll talk him into picking you too," Sakura smiled. Ino thanked her as some of the others started fighting over who'd be captain.

"I want to be captain!"

"You can't play volleyball for shit! I'll be captain!"

Shikamaru groaned from the side, "Man, the captain isn't even any different than their team mates. Why does it have to matter so much?"

Gai walked up behind Naruto, who was about to bitch-slap Kankurou, and picked him up by the collar of his shirt. Naruto squirmed and squirmed until he finally gave up, crossing his arms in fury, "All right, calm down," Gai laughed, "Captains are Naruto and Temari. Pick your teams quick!"

As promised, Naruto picked Sakura in a heart beat. Temari rolled her eyes, muttering something about him being so predictable, but then made a cat-like grin and picked Shikamaru. The latter groaned, muttering a famous word, and walked up to Temari. Ino blinked at the two when Temari had done this. Something about the way she looked at him just made her grumble a bit inside.

* * *

"Ino, your serve!"

Sakura tossed her the ball, and Ino caught it, panting. They were down 5 to 4. Temari had proved to be a worthy opponent; she nailed everything that came at her. _So I'll aim away from her… where's a good weak point?_

Ino scanned the opposing side, then laid eyes on Shikamaru and smirked. He was _too_ lazy to actually try and hit the ball. Everything he did proved it: hands shoved in his pockets, gaze directed in no certain direction, shoulders stumped in a classically lazy way. He was the _perfect _target.

"Heads up!" She aimed and served, sending the volleyball soaring across the gym. It was only seconds before it came into contact with his face that Shikamaru realized it was aimed at him.

"Shit!" He dodged to the side, and the volleyball violently hit the floor behind him. He shot a look at Ino instantly, eyes widened as if to say '_are you crazy!?'_

"Point, team Naruto!" Gai yelled, and Lee added a point to the scoreboard, "Next point wins!"

Ino was tossed the ball again, and she bounced it against the ground as she decided on her next move. Should she go for the same plan? _I don't know… I _could _mix it up a little. That Gaara kid looks about as disinterested in this game as Shikamaru… and Temari's probably expecting me to hit it at Shikamaru again…_ she smirked, _Screw it!_

She tossed the ball, hitting it with an over hand serve that bulleted across the room, headed for the same destination. But Temari didn't come to his rescue like Ino had thought. Instead, this time Shikamaru readied his hands and bumped the ball with perfect timing, sending it over the net with no hassle. Ino ran for the net, shoving Naruto out of the way to bump it back.

Temari finally caught on and scowled at her through the net and moved to help Shikamaru. He shook his head and shoved her aside, bumping the ball again. Ino laughed on the inside, _maybe he wants to prove something._

Ino exchanged looks with Sakura, and both of them smirked. When the ball was returned to them, Sakura got directly under it and set it, sending it to Ino. She jumped and spiked.

"Team Naruto wins!"

Shikamaru instantly relaxed back into his lazy pose, staring off into space and acting like nothing had happened. Ino laughed at him, _or maybe he just wanted to get it over with._

"All right, that's all for today. Lee, help me pack up the equipment. The rest of you go back to the locker rooms."

On the way out of the gym, Ino brushed past Shikamaru. He looked down on her, scowling, before they parted directions and he disappeared into the boy's locker room. Ino frowned a little, but snickered. _I'm sure he needed that.

* * *

_

"Nice thinking out there."

Ino paused halfway while taking off her shirt in the locker room. She looked over to her side, where she found Temari leaning against the lockers, arms crossed. She was still clad in her gym uniform. Ino blinked, took her shirt off and reached for her regular one, "Thanks… I guess."

"It's weird, no one's ever thought of that before. I guess they all thought Shikamaru was just putting on an act."

"Really," Ino replied, almost sarcastically, pulling her shirt on. She walked over into the bathroom area, inspecting her hair in a mirror.

"You best watch your back." Temari appeared in the mirror. Ino turned around to face her directly and cocked an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Shikamaru," She glared, "Is _mine._"

Ino laughed, "Ha! You haven't really heard much about me, have you?" She shook her head, "I'm navy brat. My family will move before _anything_ could happen between me and any guy."

But her words weren't enough to make Temari back down. She only glowered at Ino. "You better hope you do, because if something _does_ happen, you can be sure that things _won't_ be pretty."

Ino narrowed her eyes, "You know, I don't like you," she walked away, grabbed her bag, and turned back around, "And on another note, Shikamaru's a long time friend of mine. We knew each other as babies and our fathers are pretty close."

She walked out the door, leaving Temari to stand there in amazement.

* * *

"Hey, Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru looked over his shoulder, seeing Ino running up to him from the locker area. He scowled at her, but didn't move. It was too troublesome for him.

"Aww," She caught up to him and grinned teasingly, "Are you mad because I kicked your ass in volleyball."

"_No one_ had ever _dared_ to actually pull me into the game," He narrowed his eyes, "You're lucky you're new, or I'd have…"

"What? Stare at me to death?" She giggled.

"You don't know what kind of hold I've got on kids here."

"Shikamaru, just stop," She smiled, "You can't threaten me."

He did stop, and Ino latched onto his arm, "So you'll show me to our last class today, right? I still don't know my way around too well."

"Yeah, yeah," he scratched his head and sighed, "I suppose I've got to."

The bell rang, and she followed him down the halls, always still hanging onto his arm so she wouldn't be lost. All the while she thought about what her mother had told her about the past, when they were babies. Did he know that they used to be friends?

She sighed, it's not like it really made a difference. Anything from that long ago couldn't last fourteen years. _It's so disappointing,_ she thought, _he's a great guy, if only he wasn't so lazy… and I, of course, won't be around long enough to be with him. Even if something did happen, it'd be over when I moved again_.

"You can let go now," He said, "We're in the classroom."

Ino sighed and rested her head on his shoulder, causing him to flinch. She didn't notice or care that he had, she just closed her eyes and thought about the disappointments of unrequited friendship and love that she had been through so many times before.

* * *

**Still not so fluffy, eh? Don't worry; right now they're set in mid-September-ish… we've still got birthdays, homecoming, and any other nonsense I can come up with!**

**EVERY TIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING, A FOX GETS HUNTED DOWN BY A MEAN HUNTER GUY.**

**Save the foxes, people.**


	3. Settling Differences

_**Day 6**_

Ino hated dinners. You know those fancy ones your parents go all out to plan, and invite their friends or work associates or boss over for a good time? Yeah. She hated those. She always ended up meeting these weird navy people that worked with her dad, normally a rank or so above him, giving him the full right to suck up to them with some dinner. And _guess_ who was forced to help her mom cook?

This time it was a little different, at least. Her parents at told her that this time, it wasn't just boring old soldiers coming over. No, this time he was inviting too of his oldest friends from way back when.

"_Wait,_" Ino stopped her dad in the middle of his explanation, "Two oldest friends?" She thought back to the picture her mom had shown her of herself, Shikamaru and Choji when they were babies, and how she had mentioned that all their fathers were such good friends, "Are they Nara and Akimichi?"

"Well, yeah," Inoichi blinked at her, surprised that she knew, "Shikato Nara and Chouza Akimichi. How did you know?"

"I know their sons! Shikamaru's in all of my classes, and Choji's in one or two of them…"

"Well," He laughed, "That's just amazing, you know you three were good friends at age two."

"I heard."

"Well then, I'll ask them to bring their whole families! One big party, it'll be."

Ino faked a grin before she disappeared into her bedroom. _Well,_ she thought to herself after collapsing onto her bed, _I don't know whether to be happy or frightened…

* * *

_

_**Day 7**_

"So the Law of the Conservation of Mass, or Matter, is…"

Ino sideways glanced at Shikamaru while she scribbled down notes. He didn't seem to be tuned into the lesson so well. He merely slumped over in his chair, his head held up only because his left cheek rested on his left hand. He was staring distantly at the white board that Iruka was writing on, blinking slowly, but rarely. He looked deprived of sleep, she thought, but then again, he could just be extremely lazy as always. She always wondered what had gotten him to his academic standing today, because it was _definitely _wasn't work ethic. He didn't even copy notes!

"Shikamaru?" She whispered to him. He turned his head slightly, cocked an eyebrow and lost the distant stare. "Sorry, I just wasn't sure if you were really _there_ or not…"

"Meh," Shikamaru mumbled and turned back to the board. Ino sighed. He probably didn't know about the dinner tonight. And it was probably better that he _didn't _until he walked to her door at six.

* * *

_Ding-dong!_

Ino turned off the TV once she heard the sound of the doorbell. A rule had been set, long ago, that she wasn't allowed to watch TV or listen to music when they had guests (unless she was allowed to spend the night in her room because she wasn't hungry or found another way out of another boring dinner). She groaned when she heard her mother squeal when she opened the door, which was coupled by another woman's squeal. Yes, this was _definitely_ a different dinner.

Her mother finally came into view, chatting excitedly with another woman whom Ino didn't recognize. A large man with auburn hair walked in behind them and shook Inoichi's hand, grinning. Choji stood beside them.

"Hey, Choji," Ino smiled. Choji grinned and came to greet her. He sat down in a chair beside her and she laughed, "I'm sorry, but you look so _different_ without a bag of chips in your hands."

"My parents said it'd be bad etiquette to bring my own food to dinner," He spat, "Except my dad is just as bad about eating nonstop as I am." Ino laughed again, but stopped the moment she heard the doorbell ring again. She watched her mother run for the door, and then groaned once more when she again squealed, and again another woman squealed with her. Choji's mom followed her to the door, and the squealing grew again. The two plus another unrecognizable woman walked back, giggling, followed by a man with black hair and a rather unhappy Shikamaru.

Ino didn't greet Shikamaru as she did Choji, but only stared at him. _Hurry up and look this way, lazy boy…_ she thought, _notice me! Notice that you're at _my_ apartment for _my _dinner!_

Her will finally took power of Shikamaru, because just then his head turned to see the two teenagers sitting across the room from him. He nodded at Choji… then widened his eyes in shock at Ino.

"This is _your _house?" Shikamaru groaned, "How troublesome. When my dad told me that we were visiting and old friend of his in town, I _never_ would have expected it to be _your_ dad."

"It's a long story," she said, not taking her eyes off of him. Shikamaru came and sat across the couch from her and crossed his arms. He propped his legs up on the coffee table and grunted.

"Feet off the table," Ino growled, but he didn't move, "My house, my rules."

"What, do you _eat_ off this thing?"

"It doesn't matter if I eat off it or not, your feet are still nasty."

But lazy-ass Shikamaru didn't move an inch. Ino narrowed her eyes and frowned, reached over and punched him. Shikamaru growled back and put his feet down. "Troublesome," he mumbled under his breath. She punched him again, and he screamed, "Damnit, woman, lighten up!"

"Shut up!" She hissed, "You should respect my house while you're in it, I can throw you out!"

"Would you really throw out an old friend?" He smirked. Choji raised and eyebrow as if to ask Ino the same question.

Ino flared up, the anger building inside beginning to release itself through her face, "Old… friend!? You knew!?"

"Well duh," he looked at her like she was stupid, "It's not like my mom, or Choji's, for that matter, has never told us stories about our childhood. In fact, I recognized you the second you walked up to me on day one." He laughed at her furious expression, "I'm a genius, after all."

"Well," She attempted at calming down, "You wouldn't want to _piss off _an old friend, would you? Friends _stick_ _together,_ right?"

"Pssh, hardly. We're not really _friends_ in that sense. We only used to know each other, Ino, and just _happen_ to have reunited. We're acquaintances, nothing more."

"I don't have to be your _friend_ to know you're such a lazy bastard!"

"You don't have to have _met_ me before to know I'm a lazy bastard." Choji nodded in agreement with Shikamaru's words. Ino only grew madder.

"_I'll change you."_ She said almost threateningly, and stood up with clenched fists.

"We've been apart for fourteen years, Ino," he stood up as well, crossed his arms and looked down on her. _Damn him and his taller height!_ "You left when we were two, and have no memories of me or Choji. You don't know me, Ino. You don't know what makes me tick. You don't know why I'm so smart. You don't know my strengths and weaknesses. And trust me," he narrowed his eyes, "It'll take you longer than you have to find all that out through the mouths of other students at our school. I'm such a lazy bastard; I find it even too troublesome to mention anything about myself to other people."

Ino's fists began to shake. _Man does he piss me off!_ His know-it-all, lazy attitude, his contradictive words, his… _taller height!_ She yelled and moved to punch him, but she was stopped by another force.

Choji stood between the bickering pair, his hand having intercepted Ino's fist inches before it made contact with Shikamaru's face. The latter wasn't even fazed.

"Hey, you three!" Ino's mother popped in from the kitchen, "Dinner's about to start!

"In a minute!" Ino half-growled, her teeth clenched in a fake smile. Choji nodded and grinned, and Shikamaru merely shifted his shoulders.

"Could we wrap this up?" He groaned, "I'm getting hungry."

"No," Choji brought Ino's hand back down to its rightful place by her side and crossed his arms, "As much as I hate to say it, I'll keep you two from dinner until you come to some sort of settlement. You can't be angry at the dinner table, I've always been taught that."

Ino and Shikamaru exchanged hurtful glares, and each scoffed at his comment. They moved for the kitchen, but Choji grabbed their wrists.

"I mean it."

Ino and Shikamaru collapsed back onto the couch and scowled at the wall in front of them. The eventually exchanged hungry looks, both understanding that the other just wanted to get out of that room and get dinner.

"All you have to do is leave me alone, Ino."

"And all _you_ have to do is accept me," She smiled, "as your best friend."

Shikamaru groaned, "You really are the most troublesome woman ever."

"And you're a troublesome guy. That makes us a match, hmm?" She grinned.

"Fine, fine, I'm hungry enough to agree to this."

"Shake on it?" She held out a hand. He grudgingly shook it and looked straight to Choji, "Can we go?"

Choji frowned, a little unsatisfied, but nodded, "All right, I'm hungry too."

* * *

The teenage trio couldn't believe they chose this dinner over sitting in the other room with malice floating between them.

"Well my boy is first in the class."

"Mine is the best wrestler on the team!"

"My daughter is an amazing artist!"

"Amazing artist, eh?" Shikamaru whispered to her. Ino pointed to the various manipulated photos that lined the walls.

"I do ad design things on Photoshop. We actually stayed somewhere long enough for me to take a class on it."

"Interesting," Shikamaru cringed as he listened to his mother describe every A honor roll he'd made since kindergarten, "You'd think that you could just say 'Oh, he's been on the A Honor Roll since kindergarten' and be done with it, right? No. She memorized every grade I made _just_ to brag."

"I heard she's the reason you actually try."

"She is," he stuck his fork in the pasta before him, "but I guess I also do it to prove something. Being a lazy bastard isn't the greatest reputation in the world, but it can have its benefits every so often."

"I'm on the wrestling team because it's some family tradition to my dad," Choji jumped into the conversation with a mouth full of steak, "It's cool, really, but he doesn't let it go."

Ino laughed, "Really? Well, it sucks to have an overprotective father who lives off every thing you do and turns it into an award that he can brag about to all his soldier buddies," she smiled, "But it's nice that, for once, I have someone to share the embarrassment with during the conversation."

"You must really be used to this, huh?"

"I'll _never_ be used to it."

"Ino was walking when she was 6 months old!"

"Shikamaru was _talking _when he was 6 months old! You know what his first word was? Troublesome."

"Choji was eating _solid food_ when he was 6 months old!"

"Liar!"

"You _wish!"

* * *

_

**That chapter took too long to write XD. Mild writer's block, I suppose. Hopefully the next one won't be _too_ much like that.**

**Next chapter… hey, Ino, I thought birthdays were a happy thing?**

**EVERY TIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING A HIPPO DIES BECAUSE TOO MANY PEOPLE JUMPED ON ITS BACK BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT HE/SHE WAS A STONE.**

**Save the hippos. **


	4. Happy Birthday!

_**Day 10**_

Ino wasn't all too fond of her birthday, either.

It wasn't that growing a year older was a big downer, like she was some old woman just counting the days away until death. No, she actually loved the fact that she was growing ever closer to year 18, when she could finally go to college and live on her own… No, the problem was that she never had anyone to spend it with. She'd never had a birthday party, because there had never been time to plan one. Her sweet sixteen the year prior hadn't been sweet at all. No car, no party, no _anything._

"What's it like a have a normal birthday?"

"Hn?" Shikamaru looked up at her from his seat. He had been taking his daily lunchtime nap, but had only closed his eyes when he thought he heard Ino speak. He blinked wearily.

"You heard me."

"I don't know, I spend my birthday like it's just another day. Yeah, whoopee, I'm a year older… it only means more troublesome tasks for my mother to heap onto me. Why?"

"My birthday is tomorrow…" She sighed and took a bite from her sandwich, "I always wanted one of those big parties that everyone came too, but thanks to moving…"

"You can't even plan one?"

"Exactly."

Shikamaru sat up in his chair and glanced at Choji. The named smirked as he shoved a few more chips in his mouth, snickering only lightly. Shikamaru scowled at him.

"What's so funny?" Ino questioned.

"It's nothing," Shikamaru reached for his soda and took a sip, "Maybe _Choji_ and I," he sent a menacing look in his comrade's direction, who immediately stopped snickering, "Can take you out to dinner or something tomorrow after school."

Ino brightened instantly, "You'd do that for me?"

"It'll be troublesome, but I suppose we can do it for a friend."

"Hey, don't look at me." Choji waved his hands, his grin slowly creeping back onto his face, "I have a wrestling match tomorrow. Love to, but can't."

Shikamaru frowned at him, but Ino shook her head, "No, no, Choji, it's fine, really. Its last minute and it won't hurt my feelings in the least, considering I've never done anything special for my birthday before anyway except let my dad buy me extravagant gifts and such…"

Choji frowned, "Then why do I feel guilty?"

"…because you love me?"

Choji looked at Shikamaru and smiled slyly, and Shikamaru bopped him on the head. He scowled back and stood from the table, "I'm getting a cookie."

* * *

"_Ino watch out!"_

Ino yelped and jumped out of the way when she suddenly noticed the volleyball flying at her head. She turned the other way and sweat dropped, "Sorry guys…"

"Good lord, Ino," Sakura sighed, picking up the ball, "You're really out there today."

Ino let her eyes wander over to wear Shikamaru stood, yawning. He _had_ skipped his daily lunch nap, after all… that probably had an effect on him to _some_ extent. She laughed weakly and rubbed the back of her neck, "Well, I suppose I _am_ daydreaming a bit."

"Ha," Sakura smirked, "Looks like Shikamaru's rubbing off on you."

Ino blushed and sent her a glare while doing her best to pay attention to the game. Her eyes scanned the room until they rest upon Temari, and her heart beat sped up a little. She furrowed her brow in anger, observing that the girl in question was gazing over at Shikamaru. She inwardly growled, then jumped, startled, when she heard the loud _thud_ of the volleyball crashing into the ground just beside her.

"_Ino! Pay attention!"_

"Young Ino, might I offer some advice?" Rock Lee called to her from the sidelines, flashing a grin coupled with a thumb's up. Ino felt almost blinded by the whiteness of his teeth.

"Um, no… Lee. I'm fine."

"I'd be happy too!" Lee completely ignored her previous statement and stepped into the game, positioning himself so close to Ino that she felt embarrassed by the contact. He rested a hand on her shoulders, causing her to flinch slightly, and pointed ahead to where Temari was preparing to serve, "You must never take your eyes off that ball, even for an instant, or _everything_ could end for you." Ino nodded hesitantly, but Lee didn't move, "Protect your side of the net like a soldier would protect his country."

"I get it, Lee."

Lee beamed and patted his soldier, then shot Sakura a victory smile, as always, before he retreated back to the sidelines with Coach Gai. She signed and looked back over to Sakura.

"How have you put up with this every day?"

She laughed in return, "Hey, Lee isn't _that_ bad. I mean, he has his moments."

Beside her, Naruto was fuming, and then roared, "Hey! Bushy brows! Stay away from my woman!_"_

"_SHUT UP NARUTO!"_ Sakura growled menacingly before dealing Naruto a terrible blow to the head. Naruto whimpered a word of apology and rubbed his head, scooting away slightly. Sakura crossed her arms and harrumphed, then looked back to Ino, "Why are you so out there today, anyway?"

"Eh, I suppose it's because my birthday is tomorrow." She sighed.

"Really? That's interesting."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing," Sakura smiled, "Just pay attention, all right?"

* * *

_**Day 11**_

_Just another boring birthday_, Ino thought as she walked the halls of Konoha High at Shikamaru's side. But this year she couldn't help but feel a little _giddy_ as the school day neared its end. Not only was it Friday, but only a mere couple of hours after she left school would Shikamaru be picking her up for dinner. _An actual birthday celebration, sans parents! _She could only smile at the thought.

Web mastering flew by fourth period, where the whole time Ino stared at the clock built into her computer, counting the minutes away. Their teacher Asuma would just about let them get away with _anything_ online, as long as their assignments were finished. She had been surfing the web, checking out only a few sites she had learned of while being in this class. A few seats away, Shikamaru was dozing in his chair, his head rested back on a pillow and his feet propped up in the computer table. Shikamaru kept a pillow stashed in his locker, he had told her, just for this class (it was the only thing he used his locker for, apparently, since this was the only class it was situated near enough to be handy). Sometimes he'd stay awake for the duration of the period to play Shougi or Go with Asuma, but most days, she had learned, he would just sleep.

_Brrrring! Brrrring! Brrrring!_

The loud noise of the end-of-day bell caused Shikamaru to stir peacefully from his nap. He blinked, reached behind his head for his pillow and yawned, then grabbed his bag and slowly rose from his chair. Ino grabbed her bag as well, kicked her chair under the table and ran over to the lazy boy.

"Hey Shikamaru!"

"Hey," he smiled tiredly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as the walked to his locker, "Have a good birthday?"

"Nothing special," she shrugged, "just like all the others."

He nodded, opening his locker and shoving the pillow inside it. He slammed it closed and shifted the bag on his shoulder and looked down at her, "Well, hopefully you won't still think that tonight," he paused, "And I also hope you don't eat too much, because I don't have _that_ much money for dinner."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that."

"I didn't think I would," he eyed her slim waist, "Anyway, I'll pick you up at six."

"Can't wait," she smiled as she watched him walk away.

She really couldn't.

* * *

She couldn't help but be excited about the impending night awaiting her. _Not only am I spending my birthday with a friend for a change…_ she grinned, _it's also just like a date too!_

Ten minutes before Shikamaru's expected arrival, Ino gave herself one last check in the mirror. Her hair was all in place and her appearance suited herself perfectly. She smoothed out the small creases in her purple top and tugged at her denim skirt. She smiled, "Looking great!"

She grabbed her purse and went into the living room and sat down on the couch. She glanced at the clock, almost six. He'd be here any minute now.

"Have fun tonight," her mother said to her from behind the half-wall that separated the living room from the kitchen. "It'll be strange not having you around here on your own birthday, though."

"But it's nice to get to spend the time with someone else. You know, a _friend._"

Her mother laughed slightly from the kitchen sink, "Well I suppose the same old dinner with your parents would get boring after a while."

"Trust me, I appreciate it, but the change is nice."

"And here I am always thinking that you hated changes," her mom shook her head, "Konoha has been good to you after all."

The doorbell rang; Ino jumped from her seat and ran to the door, "Hey Shika!"

Shikamaru didn't acknowledge the nickname this time and motioned for her to come outside, "Come on, we have reservations."

Ino grinned and waved to her mother, "Bye mom, leaving!" She pulled on some boots and left the apartment with Shikamaru.

Mrs. Yamanaka sighed as the door shut behind the two, and returned to her cooking, "Have fun, dear."

* * *

"Nice car," she said, hopping into the passenger seat of Shikamaru's black Mitsubishi, "I'd never think that you'd drive."

"It makes it easier to get places," Shikamaru grunted as he started the car.

"How old are you, sixteen or seventeen?"

Shikamaru hesitated before answering her question, "Seventeen," he said. He pulled out of the apartment driveway and made his way out of the complex.

"Today's my seventeenth, obviously," She smiled, "When's your birthday?"

He hesitated again and made a turn onto the main street, "September twenty-third."

"Really?" She said, looking out the window. She suddenly froze and shot him an amazed look, "Twenty-third!? That was yesterday!"

"Yeah, so?"

"Why didn't you _tell_ me your birthday was yesterday?"

"It wasn't a very big deal," Shikamaru shrugged, "Just another year, like I said."

"And I was complaining about mine all day, too. I feel so inconsiderate…"

"Don't," He glanced at her briefly before looking back at the road again, "I already told you, I don't care about my birthday."

Ino frowned and stayed silent for a moment, then spoke in a somewhat hushed tone, "Explains why everyone was so amazed at my birthday being today."

"Amazed?"

"Well that's how things _seemed,_" She rolled her eyes, "Choji was snickering, Sakura was surprised, et cetera. Sort of sent that vibe."

"Frankly, I was amazed too." Shikamaru pulled into a parking lot and began searching for a parking space, "Out of all the stories my mother has told me, I've never heard one about you being born the day after me."

"Remembering birth date's is no one's strong point, no matter how coincidental they are," She laughed, "I've moved back to places I've already made friends with at many times around the date of my birthday, and not once had anyone ever remembered."

"It's harder to remember the birth date of someone who moves so often, but that's not your fault." Shikamaru parked finally and turned off the car. He pulled out the keys and stepped out of the car, then reached the other side of it just as Ino had opened her door. He held out a hand to help her out, "We've arrived, madam."

Ino laughed and took his hand to stand up, "Thank you for the ride, chauffer."

Shikamaru laughed too and led her inside, "I'll never forget your birthday, Ino."

"Thanks."

* * *

Dinner had been wonderful. They had gone for Italian at Mimi's Café, and then Shikamaru took her to Shake's for ice cream (or rather, frozen custard, since that's what Shake's sells, not ice cream, but it was still delicious). It had gotten late by the time they were done, but being a Friday night, neither cared. Ino didn't even want the night to end.

"You know," Ino said when they sat at a small table outside at Shake's, "I always thought frozen custard sounded _disgusting,_ but it's actually really good."

"That's what everyone thinks," Shikamaru said, "And then they just love this stuff to hell. The only downside to coming here is that the only indoor part of it is the kitchen, so you either drive-through or sit outside."

"I like the porch, though."

"They all say that, too."

Ino giggled and took another bite of her dessert, "Well I can't thank you enough for tonight, Shikamaru."

"No problem, it wasn't nearly as troublesome as I thought it to be."

Ino kicked him under the table and he silently cursed and rubbed his knee, sending her a small glare. She laughed again, "But seriously."

"I get it," He finished his food and threw the cup into the trash can across the porch, making it in perfectly, "But we've got one more place to stop before I can drop you off at home."

"Really?" She said, also finished. He took her cup and threw it away too.

"Yup, get in the car."

* * *

"_HAPPY BIRTHDAY INO!_"

Ino's jaw dropped when she entered Shikamaru's house. Everyone she met in the past week and a half was there with the music on loud and paper decorations hanging everywhere. She turned to the lazy genius beside her, "What is this?"

"Sakura came up to me yesterday and said she wanted to throw you a party, so I let her prepare it here while we were out."

Ino was too surprised to reply. Shikamaru grunted as he scanned the room, "Oh lord, this is going to be such a _drag_ to clean up."

"Oh my god, Shikamaru…" Ino began to cry, "Thank you so much, for _everything._" She turned and hugged him tightly.

"All right, that's enough mushy crap," he laughed, "Go hang around and party with everyone, god knows when you'll get something like this again."

She thanked him again and went to go find Sakura to thank her as well. Ino Yamanaka definitely didn't hate her birthday anymore, and all thanks to one lazy genius.

* * *

**Twenty-third, twenty-fourth? I think I got the dates right, but hell, if I didn't, oh well. The important fact is that I FINISHED THE CHAPTER. So… get over it. XD**

**I'm thinking homecoming next! I think we all know what that means ;)**

**EVERY TIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING A TEDDY BEAR GETS ALL RIPPED UP BY MY EVIL DOG OF DOOM.**

**Save the teddy bears.**

**(damn, I'm running out of animals…) **


	5. To date, or not to date?

_**Day 14**_

"Homecoming?"

"That's right," Sakura said, pasting the last piece of paper to the poster board for her and Ino's English project. "It's this week. You haven't heard?"

"Not at all."

"The dance is a ton of fun," Sakura grinned, "it's more of a costume party than a formal one, and the theme is ninjas. I've already got my outfit and everything; I'm just waiting to buy my ticket."

Ino frowned, "I've never been to a homecoming dance. Freshman year I missed it entirely, and sophomore year I got asked out, but we moved just the day before. I had to sell my ticket."

"That sucks," Sakura said, writing their names on the back of the poster board, "But you just got here two weeks ago, I don't think you're going anywhere any time soon. Why not go ahead and buy a ticket?"

"I guess it wouldn't hurt, but who would I go with?"

"Find a date, it's not hard."

Ino laughed, "But the only two guys I really hang out with are Shikamaru and Choji! Who would I ask?"

Sakura blinked, looking at her as if it were obvious, "Shikamaru or Choji, duh."

"I don't know," Ino pondered, "Choji is nice and all, but his gluttony is just too annoying. And Shikamaru…"

"Is perfect?" Sakura giggled, thinking about the previous Friday night.

Ino blushed, "No!" she immediately exclaimed, averting her eyes, "He's… just… let's turn this project in, okay?"

"Don't change the subject! You _like_ him!"

"I don't _like_ anyone." Ino narrowed her eyes, "I _can't_ like anyone. I'll _move_ soon."

"So it's a long-distance relationship, big deal."

"I can't handle a long distance relationship, Sakura. I'll get paranoid that they'll cheat on me. If I have a boyfriend, I need him to be around me."

"Have you ever even _had_ a boyfriend?"

Ino frowned, "No."

"So you don't know! Cheer up, all right? Everything will be just fine." Sakura winked at her and stood from her chair to turn the project in. Ino drummed her fingers on her desk and thought about what she would want to do for the dance until her return.

"Hey Sakura, who are _you_ going to go to the dance with?"

Sakura blushed and grinned, "Well… I was thinking about asking Sasuke." She giggled.

Ino raised her eyebrows, "_Asking Sasuke,_ huh? Isn't it tradition for guys to ask girls?"

"Pssh, no one cares about _that_."

Ino looked across the classroom where Sasuke was finishing his project with Gaara, "But from everything I've heard, Sasuke's pretty godly. Do you really have a chance?"

Sakura smirked, "You underestimate me, young Ino. But I have plenty of guys chasing after me to fall back on, anyway." Sakura flipped her short, pink hair and laughed again, "But anyway, we should find you a date! Tickets go on sale _today,_ and the go fast!"

"Tickets go on sale for _seniors,_ today, Haruno," a tall boy with long, black hair tied back in a lose ponytail looked down on Sakura, his silver eyes piercing through her, "juniors can get them _tomorrow._"

"Neji!" Sakura gasped, "You surprised me! Why are you here?"

Neji held up a slip of paper, "Office aide, I've got a message for Kakashi."

"What about?"

"Gai's sending threat letters again," he rolled his eyes; "apparently they're doing another one of their weird battle-skits at halftime during the game."

Neji left Sakura's desk and deposited the note on Kakashi's desk, the owner merely nodding and thanking him silently, being engrossed in another weird book. He waved and left the room.

Ino watched the door close, "He was kind of hot."

"I'm sure his girlfriend Tenten thinks so too."

Ino blushed again, but then stuttered, "Well don't think for a minute that I'm going to find a date for this dance, I'll go by myself!"

"Whatever."

* * *

Ino walked into gym later that day with a bored look that could have rivaled Shikamaru's. Homecoming week was the least exciting thing to her at the moment: it just didn't seem so great when there wasn't someone special for her to spend it with.

"Shikamaru!"

The bored look disappeared from Ino's face quickly when she snapped her head in the direction of the calling. _Temari._

"Shikamaru!" She grinned seductively and ran up to the boy in question, who merely grunted and looked away. She hugged his arm and grinned at him, "I bought tickets to the homecoming dance, you wanna come with me?" She purred.

"No," he grunted again.

"Temari," Ino walked up to them and crossed her arms, "I thought you were a junior, how'd you get tickets?"

Temari spat, "I'm a senior, dumbass."

Ino looked surprised, "then why are you in my chemistry class?"

"Temari took IPC her sophomore year," Shikamaru explained, "She's a year behind in science."

"How special for you."

"Shut up Blondie," Temari accused, completely ignoring that fact that they shared the same hair color. She turned back to Shikamaru and beamed, "So how about it, Shikamaru? You, me, dance?"

"I already told you," he met her gaze this time and glared, "No. I'm not going to any stupid dance."

Something about this made Ino's heart sank. Shikamaru didn't want to go to the dance? She scoffed to herself, _what do I care, I'm going stag, right?_ She stole a glance at him quickly, noting his usual bored and dazed look. _I guess part of me just hoped…_

She blushed, _hoped for him!? No way! I don't like that lazy bastard! We're just friends…_ she paused, _with the same schedule. And our parents just happen to be good friends, so that's got nothing to do with it. He's just a good friend of mine who happens to be a guy._ She smiled; proud of the assurance she had given herself. No way would she be let down by Nara Shikamaru.

She soon found herself staring at him, eyes tracing every detail of his face, his hair, and soon his body. Shikamaru was well built for a lazy bastard; he was in great shape and even had a nice looking face to match. Those black eyes were filled with mystery… a hidden agenda, perhaps? Ino had always thought that people with black eyes were rather cold and insensitive, but Shikamaru wasn't much like that…

She sighed and sat down in her spot for roll call, frowning and resting her chin on her hand, _damnit, I really have fallen for this guy, haven't I? Prepare yourself for a let down, Ino, because not only is he not interested, but you're probably moving soon anyway.

* * *

_

Ino drummed her fingers, bored, against the computer desk. Web mastering could be such a boring class sometimes because you could so easily run out of things to do. She had already finished all her other homework, plus memorized all the symbols of the periodic table for her chemistry test the next. Then she had typed up her entire report for English and printed it, and that wasn't even due until _Friday._ She'd surfed and checked all the updates on her regular sites deviant art, and various web comics) and even checked them more than once. She'd taken a trip to the bathroom and even a trip to the library. She'd read some of her book that was stashed away in her bag, but got bored of that quickly and wished for something else to do.

And yet there were still thirty minutes left of class.

_I knew I should have taken BCIS, at least they _do_ something all period…_ Ino scowled at the black screen of her computer screen, which taunted her with the bouncing Windows logo. Her eyes were locked onto it, bouncing against the side of the screen with the logo and skidding across it right after. _If only I didn't have enough pride in myself, maybe I'd just fall asleep after my work like Shikamaru does._

She slowly turned her head to the side and looked at the formerly named. He wasn't asleep, it seemed, and instead he was sitting cross-legged in his chair and staring at the screen. She could tell what he was doing from her seat, and didn't want to get up to find out, so she just watched for movement.

He did move, slightly, to get his hand on his mouse and click something. But then a second later it was down on his lap again, and he returned to that same old contemplative stare.

Ino turned her head back to her computer and opened up AOL Instant Messenger. Sure enough, Shikamaru was there online. She opened up a chat window and typed in her message:

**NavyBrat:** what are you doing?

Ino turned her head to see at Shikamaru again to see if he would answer. His stare was broken when the window popped up in his screen, and he frowned slightly and clicked again. He didn't type in anything in response. Ino frowned as well, watching to see if he would respond soon at all, but only observed him making a few clicks on his screen. Eventually, she did see him reach for his keyboard and type something in real quick, then clicked once more and stared at the screen again. She turned to see if there was a message waiting there for her.

**LazyCloudwatcher: **Playing online chess against Asuma.

Ino looked over across the room to where her teacher sat comfortable behind his desk, his hand stroking his beard while his eyes shared the same contemplative stare as Shikamaru.

**NavyBrat:** Oh, who's winning?

Once more she observed him until he responded. After a few last clicks, Shikamaru smirked and laughed silently at the computer, then typed in his message:

**LazyCloudwatcher:** I just did.

She looked over to Asuma, who was frowning and typing on his keyboard furiously.

**LazyCloudwatcher:** And now he's begging for a rematch.

**NavyBrat:** Haha, do you always beat him?

**LazyCloudwatcher: **Yea

Neither of them messaged for a few moments after that. Ino figured that Shikamaru had begun another match against Asuma, given his contemplative stare, and decided it best not to bug him. However, one question hung in her mind… what about homecoming?

Tired of thinking about it, she decided to bring it out into the open:

**NavyBrat:** What are you doing for homecoming?

**LazyCloudwatcher:**Sitting at home. I'm not much of a dancer. Or a party kid.

**NavyBrat: **Oh… well I just thought it'd be cool to go. I've never been to homecoming.

It was another moment or two before Shikamaru responded again. Ino thought it to be his chess match, but the stare on his face didn't nearly look thoughtful enough. She sighed; maybe she had freaked him out…

**LazyCloudwatcher:** Troublesome woman…

**NavyBrat:** What's that now!?

**LazyCloudwatcher:** Nevermind.

Ino pouted a little until a thought burst in her head. A plan began to formulate, and she grew excited. She typed into the message box quickly:

**NavyBrat:** If I bought you a ticket, would you go with me? D

**LazyCloudwatcher: **…

**NavyBrat: **I'll teach you to dance too!

**LazyCloudwatcher: **…

**NavyBrat:** Come on, Shika!

**LazyCloudwatcher: **Fine, fine. I'll _think_ about it.

**NavyBrat:** Yaaaaaay!

**LazyCloudwatcher:** I only said I'd think about it!

Ino didn't care, it still meant a lot to her.

* * *

"So it looks like I've got a date after all."

Ino adjusted the Bluetooth headset on her ear before continuing with her homework. She sat cozily on her bed, propped up against some pillows set up against the wall. Her bed was situated in the corner of her room so that she could easily sit against the wall to watch TV. Her backpack sat at her feet, zipped open with all her books sticking out of it. She scribbled away at chemistry problems confusedly.

"Oh, with who!?" Sakura squealed delightfully on the other side of the line.

Ino hesitated, "Shikamaru."

She flinched at the loud squealing on the other line, "I _told_ you he was perfect!"

"I had to bribe him into it with a free ticket and dance lessons, and even then he didn't seem to want to go. And it was in a chat on AIM during web mastering."

"But still, you have a date! You're all ready for the dance! Well, no, you don't have a garner to give him… but I can help with that."

"Garner?"

"Well, yeah. It's tradition for homecoming that in couples, the boy buys a mum for the girl and she buys him a garner. The school sells them, but sales ended last week. You can make them yourself, though. I can help you."

"Can I really trust Shikamaru to buy me a mum?"

"I can take care of that too. Trust me."

Ino sighed, "Are you in chemistry right now? I can't figure out this stoiciometry homework…"

"The only chemistry we should be talking about is that between you and Nara!"

"How about your chemistry?" Ino said, trying to change the subject in another way, "What happened with Sasuke?"

Only silence was heard on the other line. Ino took full advantage of Sakura's silence to read a question over and over to at least _try_ and burrow it in her mind so she'd be able to figure out how to answer, but she hadn't come close when Sakura spoke again.

"He said no."

"Sakura, I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay. You were right. I shouldn't have thought that I was up to his level."

"But hey, you even said you had plenty of other guys chasing after you, right? Like… Lee and Naruto! What about them?"

"I suppose. But I think I'll just wait to be asked."

"That won't take long."

"Thanks Ino. I'm going to go now. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay? Maybe we can get together then to take care of Shikamaru's garner."

"See you then, Sakura." Ino hung up and returned to her homework. Tomorrow she'd buy her ticket, Friday she'd go to the football game, and Saturday…

Ino smiled. Saturday she was going to the dance.

* * *

**Enjoy? You better. Sorry about last chapter, I FULLY UNDERSTAND I WAS A DAY OFF. Meh. Anyway, it's not _that_ significant.**

**Please send more reviews? Pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase? The more reviews I get the faster these chapters come and the more motivated I get. So no reviews no chapters. So remember…**

**EVERY TIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING, AN IGUANA FALLS OUT OF HIS CAGE THAT WAS SITUATED IN THE BACK OF A PICKUP TRUCK THAT WAS DRIVING IT HOME FROM THE PET STORE AND INTO THE STREET AND GETS RUN OVER.**

**Save the iguanas!**


	6. Death Match

_**Day 16**_

Ino sighed and rested her head on her desk as the eight-thirty-five bell rang. Tutorials were over, and she could take a short ten-minute nap before class started. Man, did stoichiometry ever _suck._

_When am I ever going to use _this_ in life?_ She groaned inwardly, letting her eyelids droop and taking a deep breath, _I'm not planning on be a scientist or anything._

She sighed and sat up in her chair for only a moment before sliding down into it. She wasn't Shikamaru; she couldn't sleep under the bright light of the class room. She'd just have to wait the morning through until lunch, when she could get some caffeine in her system. _I knew I should've gotten some coffee on the way here._

One by one, her first period chemistry classmates filed in and sat in their seats, and those that had joined her for tutorials that didn't have this class first period left. Iruka graded some last-minute papers at his desk so they would be ready to pass out that day. Hinata Hyuuga eventually ran in with a panicked face, asking in her high-pitched voice for Iruka's help on her homework that she hadn't finished. Her cousin Neji stood in the doorway snickering, before saying goodbye and leaving for his first class. Hinata paused, turned and yelled a thank you to Neji for the ride there (or what seemed like a yell for her) before frantically turning back to Iruka and digging out yesterday's assignment. Kiba Inuzuka walked in a dropped his bag on his table, and then walked over to Iruka's desk to see what was going on, sticking his nose in other people's business as always. He pointed something out on Hinata's page, she gasped and nodded and rushed to her desk to fix the problem. Kiba smirked at his own genius.

Ino rubbed her hands against her face in one last effort to wipe away all the sleep. She squinted her eyes together, gritting her teeth to try and stifle and upcoming yawn, but couldn't fight in and gave in, letting her jaw stretch open and let the yawn escape. Her arms fell onto her desk and she slowly opened her eyes…

…to see Temari glaring right at her.

The named dropped her bag to the ground without breaking her stare, and then slit a finger across her throat before turning and sitting down. Ino blinked, and then rubbed her face again.

_It's too early.

* * *

_

Kakashi was reading another one of those strange books. Naruto had told her the whole story, about how the Senior Class English teacher, Jiraiya, had gotten Kakashi into it. Now whenever Kakashi wasn't teaching, he was putting off his work and reading another strange book. Half the time, if a student asked for help, he would read during his work. And since he preferred to do less work and more play, his class was pretty fun. He was one of those rare goofy teachers you only come by once in your lifetime.

But sadly, he was in lecture mode right now, switching out notes on the overhead that everyone was required to right down. While scribbling, Ino looked to her side and whispered to Sakura.

"_Psst!_ Sakura!"

Sakura looked up and questioned her with her eyes, then looked back to her notes.

"Did you get a date yet?"

Sakura merely shrugged. Ino frowned and tapped her pencil loudly against her desk. Kakashi paused, looked over at her, and frowned.

"Ino, stop that, it'll break the lead."

Ino halted her pencil automatically and raised her eyebrows at Sakura, mouthing the word, "Well?"

Sakura sighed and waved her pencil at her, "I'll tell you later."

Ino frowned, but nodded. No sense pushing her.

Even if Sakura had been the one to push Ino.

* * *

"The day is going by way too slowly."

Ino shoved a fork in her salad, crushing the vegetables beneath it. Shikamaru pulled his head up slowly from the table and yawned, barely opening his eyes.

"What do you mean? The hours are flying by…"

"Easy for you to say, you sleep the whole time." Ino shot him an accusatory glance, "It's amazing that you don't have so much energy, Shikamaru, because you surely get plenty of sleep."

"Meh," Shikamaru said simply, not wanting to bring up an argument. He reached over and plucked a piece of lettuce hanging from the plastic box that contained Ino's salad and shoved it in his mouth.

"Hey! Keep your slimy hands away from my food." She said teasingly.

"Slimy?" He sniffed at his hand, then grimaced, "Gross, you're right. Be right back." He stood from his chair and went for the boys' bathroom.

Ino frowned, genuinely disgusted this time, and returned to poking at her food with her fork. Choji arrived and sat down with his usual mound of food. He plopped into his seat and raised an eyebrow at Ino.

"You gonna eat that?"

"Eventually," Ino continued to poke at her food for a bit until she eventually stopped, then grimaced at her now-realized mistake, "Argh, I forgot dressing. Choji, you wouldn't by any chance have some ranch in the heaping of food there?"

Choji looked at her as if she were crazy, "No."

She sighed, "I'll be right back," and left the table.

Mere seconds later, Shikamaru sat back down at the table rubbing his hands, "Damn these bathrooms here. I swear, if I see one more sign reminding me to wash my hands, and then find out that the freaking soap dispenser is EMPTY, I'm going to kill something. I was scrubbing my hands with water until some kid gave me some hand sanitizer."

Choji grimaced, but stuffed his face all the same, "Excited about the dance, eh?" He grinned.

Shikamaru stared blankly at him, "What?"

"You're going with Ino, right? You've never gone to Homecoming before."

"She kind of bribed me into it," Shikamaru yawned, "But I don't really mind. You know how things are for her, she's moving all the time. She's missed out on a lot."

"You're such a gentleman."

"Shut up."

* * *

"Yamanaka."

Ino whipped her head around as she tugged on her gym shorts. Temari stood against the lockers, her gym shirt still not on and instead draped over her shoulder, scowling. Ino cocked an eyebrow.

"Can I… help you?"

"I told you, damnit, to stay away from Nara."

"Yeah, well…" Ino hesitated when she realized that she didn't know Temari's last name, but went on, "…Temari, we happen to be good friends." Ino slammed her locker door closed, then turned around and crossed her arms, giving Temari a very pissed-off glare. "I'm sorry if you have an issue with that."

"You better watch yourself, bitch," Temari walked up closer to the younger teen, towering over her, if only by an inch or two, looking down at her like she was a mere ant, "You wanna know what happened to the _last_ girl that tried to steal him from me?"

"Steal him from you? He doesn't even _like_ you."

"I broke her arm," She growled, ignoring the comment, "And a few other things. She cried so hard she begged her mother to transfer her to another school."

"Such empty words," Ino smirked and shoved by her, "I'm not intimidated by you; I've been threatened by worse."

"Liar. Like _what_?"

"Try _guns." _Ino stepped out of the locker room and closed the door behind her. She sighed and rested a hand on her chest. Her heart was beating at an alarming rate, and she threw her head backwards to hit the door behind her.

"This is too much to handle."

* * *

Dodge ball was definitely Ino's _least _favorite sport.

She spent a good deal of the time hiding behind Sakura, trying not to get hit. Dodge ball was always the one sport she didn't try to participate in. It reminded her too much of the war front. Unfortunately, today was the hardest day to skip out on, because the balls were nearly undodgeable. Why was that, you ask? They were all going at her. Again, why?

Temari was pissed.

And she was on the opposing team.

Shikamaru had taken a hit early in the game and was nonchalantly sitting in the stands off to the side. Inu frowned at him; he was the reason for this, after all. The reason why Temari was so pissed off at her.

She clutched her stomach and winced. It didn't help that she'd just eaten lunch, too.

_Whose wise idea was it to give the PE class A lunch?_

_**Bam!**_

And in a second, Ino's human shield had fallen to the ground.

"Haruno, out!"

Sakura stood up slowly and rubbed her sore right shoulder where she had been hit. She waved a hand at Ino as she departed for the sidelines, "Good luck."

As the Yamanaka watched her only hope of survival walk away, she felt her heart beat speed up in fear. She wasn't looking forward to being pelted upon by foam balls by the blonde madwoman across the court. She surveyed her remaining comrades: Hinata had stricken lucky and was shaking in a far corner, still untouched. That wouldn't last long, Ino could tell by the malevolent look of Temari's younger brother across the court. Naruto was running around like crazy, picking up and throwing balls at the opponents at a thousand miles per hour, but each one missed. Last of all was Shino, standing over by Hinata, completely unfazed by the game. If something came his way, he merely stepped out of his trajectory path and did nothing more.

Survey says… Ino's got no hope now.

One ball smashed into the floor not ten feet from her, then rolled across the ground until it bumped into her foot. She bent over and took it, holding it in one hand. She looked across court.

Temari smirked back at her.

Fire began to rage deeply within the Yamanaka. Everything Temari had said to her before, ever since she had moved here, ever since she had first laid eyes on the pineapple-headed, lazy-ass bastard that she shared a schedule with, started to replay in her mind. And the more it played, the more she wanted to pound her smug little face in.

She hurled the ball.

Temari was able to dodge the ball just enough that it only grazed by her head, and she clutched her ear after it had passed in pain. It may not have hit, but the ball had been flying right past her right ear… she looked at Ino in shock, and then soon relaxed into a smirk.

"So we're finally going to get serious, then?" She caught a ball that had just bounced off the ground from Naruto's direction without breaking her gaze on Ino, "Bring it!"

Temari growled and threw the ball with all of her force, and Ino poised herself right in its path to catch it. Her arms were twitching; she had to brace herself for impact. Temari was a strong girl…

She caught the ball, immediately encircling her arms around it so that it wouldn't fall. The force caused her to take a few steps back in order to keep from falling. She gritted her teeth, absorbing the pain that had been distributed to her chest. Her arms twitched even more.

She stood straight and loosened her grip, looking Temari straight in the eye. She grinned.

"You're out."

"Bitch," Temari growled as she walked over to the sidelines. But a steady, smug grin slowly appeared on her face as she made her way over to Shikamaru. The said boy didn't even acknowledge her presence, but instead continued staring off into space, his arms crossed and eyes half closed. This was the one class he _couldn't_ get any sleep out of, thanks to Gai…

Ino growled. She didn't even notice that that ball she had caught had gotten Sakura back in the game.

Enraged, Ino picked up another ball and hurled it as fast as she could. It flew upwards and hit the backboard of the basketball hoop on the opponent's side, right in the middle of the white square. Her entire team cheered and ran back into the game.

"Ino, you're on fire!" Sakura grinned.

Ino didn't notice that either. She just kept her gaze locked on the other team's players, still out of commission. She clenched her fists in anger, twitching once more.

"_Temari, you bitch!"_

Everything ceased at that moment. Hinata, who had fallen to the floor after being pelted in the face by Gaara, froze on her hands and knees in the middle of scrambling back to her feet. Shino had turned his head from his little corner and his hands fell out of their cozy position in his pockets. Naruto had frozen in mid-run, his hand drawn back and poised to throw a ball at Gaara in revenge for striking down his team mate. Sakura, who was about to pat Ino's back for her amazing evolution in the world of dodge ball, who had stood only inches behind her when Ino had made her exclamation, dropped her jaw. Even Shikamaru took the moment to stare at Ino in question.

"Ino, are you all-"

"You _think_ you're all nice and _safe_ over there, don't you? All cozy on the sidelines! Sitting there, nice and smug, with _Shikamaru!_ I guess _bitches_ are attracted to _lazy bastards!"_

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows and drew his head back in surprise, "Ouch."

Temari scowled and stood up from the bench, striding to the middle of the court where Ino stood. She stopped only inches in front of her, utilizing the two-inch height difference to her advantage to look down on Ino mockingly. She narrowed her eyes.

"_Which_ bitch are we talking about?" She seethed, "You or me?"

"Both of us," Ino forced out the strongest voice she could. Her knees grew weak, and she had to do everything in her power to keep from being intimidated.

"A challenge," Temari laughed and crossed her arms, "Not a very good one, but one all the same."

Ino gritted her teeth once more and reached behind her, plucking the dodge ball out of Sakura's hands without averting her gaze off of her blonde rival.

She smashed it right into her left cheek.

"Round one, dodge ball." Ino growled, as Temari stumbled back and held her cheek in pain and stared at the Navy Brat in shock, "Winner: Ino."

* * *

**LazyCloudwatcher:** What was _that_ about?

Ino stared at her computer screen in amazement later in Web mastering. Shikamaru was never one to start a conversation, much less when he could be playing chess against Asuma or sleeping. She hastily typed a reply.

**NavyBrat:** Girl stuff.

**LazyCloudwatcher: **Which means beating each other up and then you getting sent to the principal's office. Nice.

**NavyBrat:** Haha, very funny. I guess I'll have a hard time getting this one past my parents.

**LazyCloudwatcher:** You've beaten people up before?

**NavyBrat: **No, that's why it'll be so hard!

Ino sighed, relaxing back into her chair. Things between her and Shikamaru continued to roll smoothly, and for now that was all that mattered to her. Then, come tomorrow, she'd meet up with Temari and fear for her life once more.

Could Temari really steal the lazy boy from her like that?

Ino didn't understand why it bothered her so much. She merely only wanted to stay good friends with the Nara, and actually feared anything more than that due to the expected moving sometime in the near future. But thinking of him being with another girl, especially _Temari_, the bitchy blonde exchange student from Suna High, _really_ pissed her off.

**NavyBrat:** We're still on for the dance, right? I bought tickets yesterday…

**LazyCloudwatcher:** Yeah, I guess.

Ino smiled. Everything was all right.

For now.

* * *

"No. Sakura, you're lying to me. I know you didn't _just_ tell me what I _think_ you told me."

"I'm serious Ino, he's my date."

Ino collapsed back onto her bed, and rubbed her face, trying to get all of the chemistry to disappear from her mind so it didn't clutter her thoughts whenever she closed her eyes. She groaned into her Bluetooth headset, "But... why!?"

"He asked, and it's not like I had anyone _else_ to go with."

"Go stag."

"Not my thing. And he's not that bad, Ino, seriously!"

"Did you _see_ him in gym today? He's a madman!"

"I know he acts strange, but he can be sweet if you catch him at the right moment..."

Ino shook her head, shoving her homework into her backpack, "At least you're not going with Lee, he's just..."

"_Too_ strange?"

"Yeah."

"He's just really nice!"

"Sakura," Ino glared into the headpiece, "You have a hard time saying no, don't you?"

"What!?"

"You can't admit that both Lee _and_ Naruto are totally nutcases, and you said yes to a date with this said hyperactive knucklehead! Are you _sure_ you're thinking straight?"

"...Yes."

"Goodbye, Sakura."

"Wait, Ino-!"

Ino hung up the phone. She knew another nutjob.

* * *

**AHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I THOUGHT I WOULD NEVER FINISH THAT CHAPTER. GOOD LORD, THAT TOOK TOO. LONG.**

**I think the next one will end up being more silly than actual plot material… like… FILLER!!!!**

**(watches everyone die)**

**Mwahaha!**

**EVERYTIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING, A FROG HOPS AROUND A FOREST UNTIL IT ENDS UP IN A HIGHWAY AND THEN SITS THERE CURIOUSLY UNTIL A BIG OL' TRUCK COMES BY AND THEN DOESN'T MOVE SO IT GETS SQUASHED!!!!**

**Save the frogs, kids.**


	7. Game Day

_**Day 18**_

Friday. Game Day.

It wasn't like Ino had never seen a football game before. She had, actually, plenty of times seen them on TV. She watched with her father from time to time, when she was bored and all. She'd always watch on Thanksgiving, because the entire family got together and she had nothing better to do since her cousins were all younger than her by at least five years, and her mother and aunts had never seemed interesting enough. But this time it was different, because it was _live_ at _her school_ and she was watching with _her friends._

By some miracle, Ino and Sakura had been able to coax Shikamaru into giving them a ride (since neither of them had a car themselves), and they arrived in the school parking lot at about 6:45. Ino stepped into the car and grinned.

"Hey Sakura," she asked as they approached the ticket booth, "Why isn't Naruto here?"

"He said he'd meet up," Sakura shrugged, handing over her ticket and walking past the gates, "I guess he'll call when he shows."

Shikamaru and Ino turned in their tickets as well and followed Sakura past the gates and onto the track. She claimed she wanted to try and wish Sasuke good luck before the game: the team was just now finishing warm-ups.

"Do you see him?" She asked, a little worried, scanning the field.

"Give it up, Sakura," Ino sighed, "He doesn't like you. Be happy that you've got someone else who does."

"I know, but-" Sakura was cut off as she turned around…

…and got a face full of mascot hug.

"What the crap!? Get off me!" She shoved the Konoha mascot away, dusting herself off, "What do you want!?"

"Awww, Sakura…" The mascot said, voice muffled, and bent over to pull his helmet off. He set it down and stood straight again, shaking his head, "Why are you so cold, 'ttebayo?"

"Naruto! What are you… what happened to Johnny!?"

"Johnny was in a car wreck."

"The should Dave be filling in?"

"Dave was the one he crashed into."

"And Chad?"

"Chad was hit by the ambulance that picked up Dave and Johnny, all right!?" Naruto growled, "You're making it seem like I planned this!"

"Well, Naruto…" Shikamaru mumbled from the side, scratching his head, "I'm not saying you're not capable of it… but…"

"Shut up."

"Right. Okay, girls, I think we should head up to the stands now," He looked over to the football team, now heading into the field house, "it'll be starting soon. Besides, I think it's best that we leave the _Konoha Kyuubi_," he suppressed a laugh, "alone to get ready."

"I would so flick you off it I weren't wearing these giant gloves, dattebayo."

"All right, then." Shikamaru said, still trying not to laugh. Ino, on the other hand, couldn't help but let a few giggles out. He placed a hand on her shoulder and they both left the track, eventually laughing so hard once they were out of earshot. But before they made it all the way out, Ino thought she saw a familiar face across the field, at the visitor's side.

"Shikamaru," she tugged at his sleeve, pointing across the field, "Isn't that… Temari?"

"Yeah, guess it is," he raised his eyebrows, only somewhat surprised, "We _are_ playing her old school, Suna, after all. I guess she rather support them."

Temari must have noticed them, because Ino swore she was glaring right at her from the visiting side. Behind her was her younger brother, Gaara, and another boy she didn't recognize.

"Whose that?" She said, pointing at the boy behind her.

"Who, Gaara?"

"No, the other one!"

"Oh," Shikamaru nodded, "That's Kankurou, her older brother. He graduated last year."

Sakura soon caught up, after having said goodbye to Naruto and taking one last, failed, look for Sasuke. They climbed up the stands until they found Tenten and Neji sitting up near the top in the Students' section, surrounded by empty seats.

"Hey! Mind if we join you two!?"

"No problem!" Tenten grinned and waved. Neji nodded and motioned beside them.

"Leave a few open, though, there will be others joining us shortly."

Shikamaru sat down beside Neji, proceeding to point out Naruto down on the track with the cheerleaders, warming up the crowd. He was running around like a maniac.

"Leave it to Naruto to try a stunt like that," Neji shook his head, "Though I don't know how he could _possibly_ think this one will score him points with Uchiha."

"_Sakura!"_

_Oh crap,_ Ino groaned inwardly, _you're not serious?_

"Sakura!" Lee yelled, running up the stairs with his well known speed that had won him so many gold medals in Cross country, "Sakura, you're here!"

He hopped past all the others sitting on the same row as them, and eventually landed himself a seat right behind the Haruno. Sakura smiled, although weakly.

"Lee… hi! How have you been since I last saw you at… er… 2:15?"

"Wonderful!" He cheered, clenching a fist before him, "As I knew I would soon meet you and your amazing beauty again tonight at this game!"

"That's flattering, Lee."

"I told myself earlier: 'If Sakura Haruno is not there at the game tonight, I will do one thousand sit ups!' And, finally, I was right!"

While Lee chatted away with… or rather, _at_ Sakura, Ino turned her head over to Tenten and rolled her eyes.

"I see now why he's so fit."

"Oh, don't be so mean," She waved a hand, "Lee's been inflicting that kind of training upon himself since he was little: it was a sort of thing he picked up from Gai."

Ino didn't bother to ask how Lee and Gai knew each other before his high school years, she wasn't that interested. Soon, Hinata and Kiba joined them in their spot in the stands, and she talked with them.

She knew the event was really getting underway when she heard the band play a somewhat familiar song: one she had heard only a few times in pep rallies but had come to recognize as their fight song. Immediately following the first beat, the football team ran out onto the field. The entire crowd cheered madly, as it should be. Naruto could be seen in his Kyuubi fashion, running up and down their side of the track with the team.

The girls in the crowd seemed to cheer even louder as the team captains of each school approached center field and shook hands, screaming and crying for the junior captain, Sasuke Uchiha. And as much as it surprised Ino, Sakura wasn't _nearly_ the worst of them. She was actually… very calm compared to them.

She just clapped, cheered, pumped her fists, and was done with it.

_Maybe she doesn't like him as much as I thought…_

"_Are you ready, fans, for the game of the year!?"_

The home side cheered loudly, loud enough that Ino couldn't tell the mood of their opponent's crowd. Ino cheered, laughing as well as she recognized the announcer's voice as that of Coach Gai.

"_Welcome to the big Homecoming night, kids! Remember, at half time we'll be crowning our king and queen!"_ The crowd cheered more, though not nearly as loudly as they had earlier at the pep rally that morning. Ino thought she would have gone deaf, they were so loud. Why? They announced the court that morning: the lord and lady for the freshmen, duke and duchess of the sophomores, and prince and princess of the juniors. Everything was fine, up until they announced the prince. Then the world went _mad_.

Because, obviously, no one other than Sasuke Uchiha would have possibly won; and he did.

"_It's time for the big kickoff, the Suna Shukakus against **your Konoha Kyuubis!**_"

The game ensued.

* * *

The game ended 24-0 in Konoha's favor.

The large group that Ino had found her self in (_surprisingly,_ she had told herself), ended up staying in the stands a while and chatting while the rest of the crowd cleared out and the traffic went from okay, to bad, to worse, to _dreadful_, back to bad, and then okay again.

They were also waiting for Naruto, but traffic was a nice excuse too.

Soon they filed out, down the steps and into the concessions area and toward the track. Before they even reached the gate, however, Naruto sprang out from it with a large duffle hanging from his shoulder. He was sweating, yes, probably from all of the excitement of the game.

"Guys, did you see me!?" He grinned widely, "I was awesome, dattebayo! Wasn't I!?"

"Your mascot fight with Suna's Shukaku was definitely amusing," Shikamaru mused.

"I owned that thing, dattebayo."

"You sure did, Uzumaki." Kiba patted a hand on Naruto's shoulder, trying, yet failing, to keep his laughs contained.

"What's so funny, 'ttebayo?"

"Oh… nothing."

The entire posse there couldn't forget that hilarious battle off on the sidelines of the game that day. Naruto had picked the fight, that was given. He had marched right over to Suna's side of the field and shoved their mascot over. The Shukaku mascot just looked at him (obviously we don't know how due to his mask), and Naruto made up "you want some of this!?" gesture. The fight ensued…

…and somehow Naruto ended up winning, the Shukaku mascot laid out on the ground, held down by the Kyuubi's foot. Konoha's side cheered like _mad,_ while Suna shot him glares.

Temari and Gaara were probably going to beat him up in gym come Monday, but it was worth it.

"You thought I was good, right Sakura?" Naruto asked the pink-haired girl with a pleading look.

Sakura opened her mouth to say one thing, then immediately shut it. She seemed to mull it over a bit, before she finally beamed and said "You did just fine, Naruto."

Ino smiled. Naruto may not be the brightest in the bunch, but it was great that Sakura was bring nice to him this way.

"Well guys," Kiba said, extending an arm around Hinata's shoulders, "I gotta take this one home. See ya tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow at the dance, 'ttebayo!! See ya!"

Kiba and Hinata waved and walked out to his car, climbing in. The amazingly loud stereo kicked in, and the souped-up engine roared to life, and Kiba sped out of there in a flash. Neji and Tenten followed suit, giving their goodbyes before climbing into Neji's Mercedes and driving away. Naruto followed Ino, Shikamaru, and Sakura out into the parking lot.

"Hey, Sakura," Naruto spoke up, almost quietly, "I'll give you a ride home, if you want. We could stop and get some food or a drink, too." He looked up her with the most adorable, sheepish grin imaginable. Sakura smiled, obviously impressed, and looked to Ino and Shikamaru.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" She stated, more than asked.

"All right, 'ttebayo! Let's go!" Naruto grabbed Sakura by the shoulders and directed her over towards his pick-up. Sakura laughed and waved at them, and they climbed in and drove away. Ino and Shikamaru never even got a chance to squeeze a word in edgewise.

"All right, there's the car." Shikamaru pointed ahead of them, "I told you we parked here."

"I'm sorry that I thought it was just a row or two over!"

"Ino, you thought it was on the other side of the lot."

She blushed, mumbled something and waited for him to unlock the car before quickly climbing in. He got in a few seconds after her, taking his time to start up the car, back out of his parking space and drive out of the lot. Keeping his eyes on her, he started up conversation again.

"When do I need to pick you up? The dance is at 8, right?"

"Umm… 7:45 maybe?"

"So really, 7:55." He laughed, "Or maybe 8:45? I can't trust you'll be ready on time."

"Oh please!" She slapped him lightly, "I wasn't late getting ready when you picked me up last time! In fact, I was early!"

"On your birthday, yes," he gave her a sideways glance, mockingly, "But today…"

"Five minutes, tops."

"Try ten."

"You…!" Ino slapped her face, but laughed. She stayed that way for a short moment, letting Shikamaru have his little laugh at her before she slid her hand off her face and looked at him once more.

"So are you actually going to dance tomorrow or will I be bored?"

"Meh," He relaxed back into a lazy stare, "Probably a little of both."

"Shika!" She whined, "Please? I've never been to a dance before!"

"Neither have I! Please, you think you're the only one trying something new tomorrow? You almost conned me into it, too!"

"Shika!" She dropped her jaw, almost surprised by his statement but still knew it was true, "I said I'd pay for your ticket and teach you to dance. Which, by the way, I didn't do."

"I know how to dance, my mother taught me."

"Oooh, I'm excited now." She smirked, "Mrs. Nara taught little Shika to dance?"

"Shut up, it was for… some party. I don't remember, even if it was only a year or two ago." He drove into Ino's apartment complex and parked, draping an elbow on his already-open window and looking over her way, "Get out."

Ino threw him an amused look and climbed out of the car, but ran over to the window and poked her head through, resting her arms in the window by his elbow. She poked her face close to his and smiled, "So 7:45?"

"Yeah." He blinked, not moving.

"See you tomorrow," She said, but didn't move. After a brief pause, Shikamaru raising an eyebrow in question, and Ino just staring ahead, she spoke again, "Awww, Shika."

"What!?" He half griped, half laughed, "Haven't I done enough for you tonight?"

"No good night kiss?" She frowned, but smiled a second later, "Hahaha, all right. Now I'm really going. G'night!"

She stood up and stretched her arms before turning around and heading for the door. However, Shikamaru suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her back, and down to his level in the car.

Before she knew it, he had kissed her. Her head and been pulled through the window, and he had reached a hand behind her neck to hold her there. She closed her eyes, and kissed back.

After a short moment, Shikamaru let her go and started the car. She stared at him, surprised, amazed, and happy all at the same time.

"See you tomorrow," he said, dully. Ino snapped back into reality and pulled her head back out of the window.

"See you… tomorrow," she replied, a smile slowly creeping onto her face. She backed away from the car, onto the curb by her door and waved. He waved back; pulled out of the parking space he was in, drove out of the lot… and was gone.

Ino couldn't help but raise her arms to the heavens and scream in joy. She spun around on her heal and ran inside, past her parents sitting on the couch, formerly quietly watching TV, and into her room. She jumped onto her bed and hugged a pillow to her chest, grinning wildly.

"I can't wait for tomorrow!"

* * *

**YES, WAHAHA. WHAT'S THAT, NOW!? I FINISHED A CHAPTER _AGAIN!!!!!_**

**All right, that one was fun. But a few points to be made:**

**a) I know I mentioned Kankurou in an earlier chapter being in their gym class, but I went back and changed it. When I was writing that chapter, I was really just hurrying and trying to get out it, and I was totally not thinking about age differences and classes and blah, blah, blah. So instead of just pretending that Kankurou got held back, I CHANGED IT and said he graduated already :D. Now, I also have no idea whether he or Temari are older…. But… oh well. He's older in this story :D.**

**b) haha silly mascots :D**

**c) yes, I did rip off a joke from an episode of _The Suite Life of Zack and Cody_ in this chapter. If you noticed… well, you get a cookie.**

**d) HAHA FILLER I JUST OWNED YOU KIDS :D**

**Anyway, you get the ALL! IMPORTANT! DANCE! NEXT! YAY WOO EXCITEMENT!!!**

**BUT, if you want it to be here anytime soon, you need to REVIEW. Seriously, guys, for every chapter I dish out I get less and less reviews. So if you really want me to continue and finish this story, you NEED TO REVIEW!! I'd love to finish this, I have quite a few more ideas for this story I would love to write, but I won't if you don't review.**

**SO REMEMBER….**

**EVERY TIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING, A LION CHASES DOWN SOME DEER BUT THEY ALL GET AWAY SO HE DOESN'T GET ANY FOOD AND SOON DIES OF STARVATIONS!**

**Save the lions, kids :(**


	8. Don't Be You!

**_Day 19_**

Ino woke up that morning grinning widely. Her lips still tingled with the excitement that the prior night's kiss had given her, and once certain, pineapple-haired boy's face wouldn't leave her thoughts, pasting itself there like her bedroom's wallpaper. She hugged her blankets up to her nose, beaming and grinning so much more while her heartbeat sped to match her happiness.

It was homecoming, and she had a date with the most amazing guy she'd ever met.

She climbed out of bed and brushed out her hair, pulling it into the usual high ponytail before changing into some comfortable sweat pants and a t-shirt. The dance, after all, wasn't until later that night, and she didn't have any plans until then. Before leaving her room for breakfasts, she peeked a look into her closet once more, just like all the other times those past few days, and smiled at the purple outfit hanging in her closet which she had bought while out with Sakura the other day. It suit the homecoming theme perfectly.

She walked happily into the kitchen, hugging her mother and kissing her father's cheek good morning, before grabbing a plate of pancakes and sitting down across from her father at the table. She took the maple syrup from him and started pouring it onto her buttermilk pancakes with a hint of cinnamon, while her mother poured her a fresh glass of orange juice and set it by her plate, growing a smile to match her daughter's. Inoichi looked up from his Saturday morning paper and raised both eyebrows.

"Big day, huh?"

Ino nodded vigorously, shoving a forkful of pancakes into her mouth. Inoichi folded his paper and set it aside, then slipped off his reading glasses and placed them atop it. He folded his hands on the table and looked her in the eye.

Ino froze in mid-chew, meeting his glance. This couldn't be good.

* * *

"This doesn't sound good."

"Please, Shikamaru!" She whined into the Bluetooth headset, clicking away at the computer keyboard. She was writing her latest blog on myspace while she explained the current situation to her date, "You understand, right?"

"I'm not good with adults, Ino," he groaned, "I get along with my dad; sure, because he's my _dad_, he taught me everything. But I can't even get along with my own mother sometimes; she gets mad at me for being lazy and sometimes kicks me out of the house for the day."

"You get along with Asuma!"

"Because Asuma a freaking awesome teacher who pals around with everyone," he mumbled, "Every other adult I've passed by just gives me annoyed looks and talks down at me."

"That's just because you're so lazy, Shika, you don't act like you care."

"But are you sure you can't get me out of this? Your dad is just… scary. I noticed at the dinner."

He was right; Inoichi had been eyeing him and Choji distrustfully the whole night. It didn't matter that they were the sons of his best friends; he still gave them evil looks when they walked out the door, "I know my dad comes on strong, but he just wants the best for me. It'll only be like… ten minutes! Ten minutes, and I'll be beside you the _whole time_. I'll let you know if something's gone the wrong way."

"Fine," he groaned, "I'll talk to your dad tonight; I'll let him interview me like I'm a criminal, and I'll try my best not to make him hate me. Can you just let me go back to sleep now?"

"All right," she smiled into the phone, "I'll see you tonight."

* * *

She tugged on the last of her homecoming 'dress' and checked her hair once more in the mirror. She crossed her arms now and smiled at herself in the mirror, adjusting the fishnets on her elbows. They complemented the purple two-piece nicely, with another pair of fishnets on her legs beneath the skirt. Hopefully, the fact that she exposed her midriff wouldn't cause any teachers to get onto her about dress code.

But hey, it's ninja day at the dance! Who cares, right?

She strapped on a belt with a pouch and stuffed some fake shuriken and kunai in for a finishing touch, then put in her favorite silver hoop earrings. She then looked down at her feet, and frowned. Where did she put those ninja shoes, again? She walked into her closet and started digging through the mountain of shoe boxes that had accumulated there.

_Damn, I need to get organized…_

_Ding, dong!_

Ino found her shoes right when the doorbell rang, then hurriedly grabbed a jacket off her bed and ran for the door. She had to beat her father there…

"Hello, Shikamaru."

_Too late!_

Ino froze in the hall, watching her father glare deeply at Shikamaru as he was invited into the house. She dropped her shoes and pulled her jacket all the way on, glancing from one man, to the other.

Shikamaru muttered a hello to them both, but didn't move from his spot at the doorway.

"Why don't you have a seat?" Inoichi pointed at the chairs and couch not ten feet away, the same spot where Ino and Shikamaru had fought in front of Choji more than a week prior. Things had drastically changed since then, hadn't they?

Shikamaru nodded, walked over to the couch and sat down, hands shoved in his black pants and Ino tailing him. But before she could sit down with him, Inoichi spoke once more.

"Ino, dear, I think your mother wants to see you in the kitchen."

"But, daddy-"

"Go." Inoichi narrowed his eyes at his only daughter, who gulped, tugged at her jacket and looked over to Shikamaru. The latter sighed, shooting her an accusatory look for getting him into this messed, but obviously decided to himself that it couldn't be helped. Inoichi only wanted to speak to the Nara boy, not both of them. She raised her eyebrows apologetically and headed for the kitchen.

_Go easy on him, daddy.

* * *

_

"How'd it go?"

"Your father," he eyed her as he started the car, "Is the scariest man alive."

She laughed, agreeing that he certainly did deserve that title, "So… bad then?"

"Well, he doesn't _hate me_."

"So he likes you?"

"He doesn't really _like me_ either, but he can stand me, I suppose." He shrugged, "probably has something to do with my showing you around while you've been here. He's grateful, or… something. It's hard to read that man."

"He's not very friendly."

"I noticed. _My father_ noticed. Do you know what my dad said to me before I left the house, today?"

Ino sighed, "What did he say?"

"He told me to watch my back, and then in the most _serious tone_, said 'Don't be you!'"

Ino raised an eyebrow, "So…?"

"My dad is about ten times lazier than I am. If he tells me not to be me, something's up."

"I thought yours and my dad were like… best friends?"

"They are," he rolled his eyes, "after about… a year of Inoichi wanting to beat him up or something."

"Good lord," she laughed. He didn't respond to this, and a moment of silence befell the pair as he drove through the streets to the school. She looked him over: the flak jacket suited him nicely, and his fishnets on his arms and legs and silver hoops earrings matched her. She laughed: some coincidence, right?

"You know," he finally said, breaking Ino's trance and forcing her to pay attention, "You betrayed me back there."

"What?"

"You said you'd be by my side the whole time!" He looked at her accusingly, "But what's this, Ino? You hung out in the kitchen the whole time!"

"I couldn't help it!" She laughed, "He kicked me out!"

"I'm not talking to you."

"Shika!" She punched his arm, which he soon rubbed and shot her an amused glance. He pulled into the school parking lot and they made their way into the school for the dance.

* * *

Sakura had been right: the dance was more of a costume party than anything formal. Everyone was dressed in ninja attire, quite a few, actually, wearing the same flak jacket that Shikamaru wore. She grinned, he definitely looked better in it, though.

"Ino, you're here!"

"Sakura!" She grinned, "I was definitely right, you work that red and white ninja gear perfectly." She paused, and looked around, "Where's Naruto?"

"Don't address me by that name!" a boy suddenly popped up, wielding two pairs of nun chucks and had an orange headband around his eyes with two holes poked through to see. He wore a plastic turtle shell on his back over an orange and black jumpsuit. "My name is Michelangelo, dattebayo!"

"Na… Naruto!?"

Shikamaru burst out laughing, "Good one, man!"

Naruto grinned, "Though, if I had it my way, I'd be Leonardo. You know, with the swords!! But no, apparently I'm too hyper, so I have to be Mikey, 'ttebayo!"

"You definitely fit the part, Naruto. But who told you that you couldn't be Leo?"

"I did!" Kiba showed up this time, also wearing a turtle shell, but over a black jumpsuit. He had a pair of fake, twin swords strapped to the shell and sported a blue mask as opposed to Naruto's orange one, "I'm Leonardo!"

"…so where are the other two?"

"What?" Kiba and Naruto stared at Shikamaru blankly in response to his question.

"You're missing Rafael and Donatello. Where are they?"

"Well," Naruto crossed his arms, "We tried to get Neji to do it, but he laughed at us. And when we told him we were serious, he laughed even more. Shino _said_ he'd be Donatello, but he's not dressed to the part, so apparently he was kidding. And Lee said he _would_ have done it, if he hadn't already gotten some 'rad' costume from Coach Gai. Gaara just… stared at us. And then walked away. And Sasuke called us idiots."

"…yeah, I'm not surprised."

"But seriously, who _wouldn't_ want to be a ninja turtle!? Come _on,_ dattebayo!"

"Give it up, Naruto, I think you're embarrassing Sakura." Ino laughed. Naruto looked over to Sakura, worried.

"Am I really embarrassing you, Sakura?"

"No! Not at all!" Sakura waved her hands in front of her and sweat dropped, "you're fine, don't worry!"

Naruto brightened and hugged her, "Thank you so much, 'ttebayo!"

Kiba looked around, "Hey, anyone seen Hinata? She was just with me a second ago…"

"Maybe Hinata's embarrassed, too."

"No! It can't be! I'll find you, Hinata!" Kiba dived into the crowd of dancing students, searching for his date.

After watching his turtle partner run into the crowd like a crazed maniac, Naruto surveyed it and posed a question.

"Where's Uchiha, 'ttebayo?"

The three of them all looked at Sakura, who froze and stared back at them, startled.

"What!? Like _I'm_ supposed to know where he is!"

"Don't you… stalk him, or something?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. Ino giggled at the statement.

"No! I have _never_… argh!" Sakura yelled, clenching her gloved fists. Naruto took her shoulders and patted them, and she soon regained composure, "I have officially given up on him. I could care _less_ what he does."

"Good, because I think I see him dancing with one of the cheerleaders."

"What!?" Sakura shot look over into the crowd, but immediately closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "No, no. I don't care. I have Naruto now, instead."

"Aww, Sakura!" Naruto hugged her tightly around her shoulders and grinned widely. "I love you, too!"

"I didn't say that!" She laughed, trying to tug his arms off her, "Stop hugging me so tightly!"

Shikamaru and Ino laughed, creeping away from the two lovebirds. The dance was only just beginning, and it had already showed to be a great delight thus far.

…or so it seemed.

* * *

**CLIFFHANGER! Pwnage!**

**All right, so this chapter wasn't _entirely_ the dance, but I had to squeeze in _something_ about Ino's dad.**

**And also, I'd like to make a point that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles totally pwn.**

**THANK YOU FOR ALL THE NICE REVIEWS!!! Wow, I'm totally happy now! It was so great to get so many awesome reviews from you guys!**

**But still remember…**

**EVERY TIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING, A HORSE FALLS OVER ONTO ITS SIDE IN SOME BIZARRE ACCIDENT AND CAN'T GET UP SO IT ENDS UP DIEING!**

**Save the horses, people.**


	9. Suna Strikes Back

Ino hugged her knees to her chest and cried; Sakura beside her and rubbing one of her shoulders. The two of them, plus Naruto (without the ninja turtle uniform; it lay in a pile beside him) sat on the edge of the cafeteria stage, where many couples had previously been dancing. They were alone in the school; the dance had ended a while ago, and their friends, though worried, had left moments ago.

Where was Shikamaru?

Ino could only weep.

* * *

It was just past seven, the dance had only just begun.

As Kiba searched the crowd to hunt down Hinata, and Naruto latched onto Sakura like a leech, Ino scanned the crowd. She spotted Neji and Tenten dancing… obviously, Tenten had roped Neji into doing it, because not only did it not seem like something he would do, but he also didn't look to be enjoying it. Lee, clad in the green jumpsuit Gai had given him (and also a flak jacket), was wandering around the cafeteria dance floor and probably looking for Sakura or Gai. She soon spotted Kiba again, having found Hinata and blatantly apologizing for any crime he may have committed against her. In return, she was blushing and shaking her head, probably trying to say he had done nothing wrong and she had merely gotten lost within the crowd.

Since she couldn't get him to dance with her, Ino took Shikamaru over into the cafeteria annex – or the 'Ninja Café' as it had now been dubbed – to grab a soda. She was just _itching_ for an ice cold Dr. Pepper right now.

"Drink's are over here, Shika!" She pointed ahead of them, at the long table dressed in plastic table clothes and paper decorations that the student council had set up earlier that day. She grabbed a Dr. Pepper and raised it to her lips to take a sip.

"Shikamaru!"

Ino immediately pulled the plastic cup away from her face to see who had just squealed her date's name, splashing some of the soda out of the cup with the sudden force. The sound pitch of the person's voice was all too creepily familiar.

Temari tugged onto the Nara boy's arm, grinning. She was clad in a black ninja dress, with what seemed to be a giant fan strapped to her back.

_It's ugly,_ Ino growled, crushing the cup in her hand and spilling Dr. Pepper all over the floor. She threw it off to her side and grabbed a napkin off the table, wiping her hand before tossing it haphazardly in the same unknown direction that she had thrown the cup.

The Yamanaka girl tried to put on her cheapest, fakest smile before greeting the Suna transfer student, "Temari!" She said so sickingly sweet that she wanted to throw up, "I'm surprised to see you here! After your old school's pathetic defeat, I thought you wouldn't even want to show your face around here."

"Yes, well," Temari returned with her own cheap, fake smile, "I have a score to settle with one certain Kyuubi boy. Plus," She hugged onto Shikamaru's arm tighter, "I missed him."

"It's only been a day since you last saw each other." Ino replied, gritting her teeth together to keep smiling.

"Love is complicated." Temari fake laughed. Shikamaru groaned and pulled away from her.

"Look, if you two are done with your… conversation here," he looked from one fake smile to the other, "Temari, I have a date. We'll talk later." He eyed her, annoyed, "Much later."

Temari crossed her arms and pouted at Shikamaru, before turning to Ino and giving her the finger and stalking off.

"Thanks, Shika," Ino grinned, for _real_ this time, "For not abandoning me or something."

"Pssh, I hate her." He scowled, "We got stuck together in a chemistry project last month _once,_ and all of a sudden she thinks she owns me."

"So there's nothing to worry about?"

"Nothing at all."

"All right, I'm going to get another soda. Want anything?"

"Grab me a coke?"

Ino nodded and ran back over to the table, grabbing two sodas and a cookie (since they were fresh and looked to scrumptious to pass up. Cookies own, you know) before returning to over to Shikamaru's side. He grabbed the soda and took a sip.

"All right, we should probably-"

"SHIKAMARU!" Kiba yelled, running through the door and accidentally hitting a few people every time he turned with that turtle shell strapped to his back, "CRAP, Nara, get out there! Something's going on between Naruto and Gaara!"

Shikamaru sighed, "What now?" He groaned, before stuffing his hands back in his pockets and leaving the annex. Kiba and Ino exchanged curious glances before running after him.

"What do you _mean_ I disgraced your school? _This _is_ your school!"_ Naruto screamed, clenching his fists. The crowd that had formerly been populating the dance floor had gathered around the screaming orange ninja turtle and the Suna exchange student.

"This shit hole is just a temporary home," Gaara growled.

"What the hell is going on here!?" Shikamaru yelled, shoving his way through the crowd until he reached the center where Naruto and Gaara stood, the blonde one hunched over and shaking his fists while the other stood calmly, arms crossed. Both averted their gazes to him.

"This guy's talking crap about Konoha."

"No, I'm talking about your stupid Kyuubi mascot here. He had no right to do what he did."

"Who gives a crap? I always thought everyone _laughed_ at the mascot!" Shikamaru stared incredulously at Gaara, "Or are you just taking your frustration out on Naruto because we beat Suna at the game yesterday? Because if you are, I'd suggest taking it out on Uchiha."

"I'd love too, but that fag is too frightened to show his face here," Gaara smirked, "Haven't you noticed? He isn't at the dance. He's off with some kids from Oto Academy."

So people gasped at this accusation. A rumor _had_ been spreading that the Uchiha god had been interloping with students from their rival, Oto. Some said he would transfer because of a tight relationship with their principal Orochimaru. But no one thought it was actually _true._ They figured Naruto just got really pissed off one day and decided to spread a nasty rumor.

Shikamaru scoffed, "Like I give a crap about what Sasuke does. I never really liked him."

"You tell him, dattebayo!"

"Look, Nara," Gaara scowled, narrowing his eyes, "I don't want anything to do with you. I just want to teach Uzumaki here a lesson."

"I don't think you get the point. I always end up having to back these guys." He gestured towards Naruto and a few of their friends standing behind him, "I don't even want to be here, I have better things to do."

"If you have such better things to do, why don't you go do them and _leave me the crap alone?_" Gaara took a step forward, closing the distance between he and Shikamaru until he was about an arms distance from him.

"Can't do that," Shikamaru shrugged, "I hate to see them get hurt. It's a pet peeve."

Gaara growled again and clenched a fist, "Fine then."

He slammed his fist right into Shikamaru's right cheek.

"I'll hurt you instead!"

"Ah… crap." Shikamaru absorbed most of the impact, but still ended up taking a few steps back from some of the extra force. He held a hand to his cheek tenderly, noticing that it had already begun to swell. Picking a fight with Gaara had been unintentional, he knew that he had sent kids to the hospital in the past and didn't want to get messed up in anything so troublesome. Damnit, why did Naruto have to go and screw everything up like that? There was no way to get out of this now…

Gaara didn't wait for Shikamaru to react with his own physical attack, but instead kept throwing punches. "Are you going to fight back, Nara, or am I just going to get bored!?"

He threw another punch, this time at his shoulder, nearly dislocating it. Shikamaru flinched and grabbed his shoulder, gritting his teeth to try and get his mind off the pain. He looked back up at Gaara.

"You freaking bas- _oof!_"

Gaara's foot came into a forceful contact with Shikamaru's crotch, and the lazy genius fell to the floor with a sickly _thud_. The Suna boy walked up to him, placing his foot upon his forehead.

"You're so weak," he laughed, and started to apply pressure to Shikamaru's forehead via his Converse shoes, "How do you expect to save your _friends_ any pain if you don't even fight back _yourself?_"

"I don't have to fight back against someone like you," he growled, wincing as it felt like his skull was being crushed between two ten-ton bricks. The fact that the cafeteria floor was coated in linoleum tile didn't help much. Gaara abruptly moved his head onto its side with his foot, still applying the same pressure. His neck cracked a little.

As Gaara laughed at his comment, Shikamaru slowly let his hand advance towards the foot Gaara used to crush his skull. In a swift motion, he pulled his foot away, throwing his opponent off balance and sending him crashing into before just like Shikamaru did only a moment before.

Gaara groaned, shaking from the impact but still trying to get up. However, he couldn't move fast enough; Shikamaru grabbed his arm to prevent him from moving and jabbed two fingers below his ear where his jaw and neck connected. Gaara screamed and tried to jerk away, but Shikamaru still had a firm grip on his arm.

Without sitting up, Shikamaru prodded Gaara's throat, just above his collar bone, and left shoulder, receiving a scream in return each time. Gaara finally found the strength to jerk away and rolled over to the side. Slowly, he got to his feet and look down at the Nara boy.

Shikamaru never stood up himself.

"Nara, you're on my hit list," he growled, holding his shoulder in pain. He kicked Shikamaru once more in his head before retreating through the crowd and out the door. With him, the crowd slowly dispersed back to what they were originally doing.

Ino had never made it through the crowd, so she could only wince and all the sounds of bodies hitting the floor and knuckles coming into a sickening contact with flesh. When the crowd finally let her through, she ran straight up to Shikamaru and knelt by his side.

"Are you okay?" She let a hand tenderly make its way to his forehead, tracing the lines left by Gaara's converse high-tops, "What happened?"

"Something troublesome," he groaned, reaching a hand up to his head and laying it on top oh hers. Ino adjusted her hand to grip onto his firmly. "I'll be fine."

"Whoa, Shikamaru!" Naruto grinned, "You just jabbed him like… four times and he was out! And he hit you like… a million, dattebayo!"

"It's all about pressure points," Shikamaru laughed to himself. "Asuma taught me about them once."

Ino smiled with him and stood back up. She took his hand with him, "Come on, I'll help you up."

He tugged at her arms and pulled himself up, using his other hand to hold his head. He grimaced and shut his eyes closed tightly.

"Is everything all right, Shika?"

"Yeah, yeah…" He groaned, opening his eyes before shutting them again, "Dizzy spell, I guess. Can't see, but it'll wear off." He moved the hand that had been holding his head in front of his face and blinked a few times. He had been bleeding.

In the time it took Ino to blink once, Shikamaru fell back down to the floor with another thud.

He had fainted.

* * *

Gaara's reputation lived up to him: everyone he fought was sent to the hospital.

However, he had what was coming to him. Principal Tsunade, after seeing the ambulance drive Shikamaru away, wrote a note to herself to suspend Gaara the next school day. He'd be sentenced to a life at the Learning Center for the next few weeks.

The dance soon ended, and after everyone filed out of the building, all that was left were the few student council freshmen who had been forced to do the task of cleaning up, the chaperoning teachers, and Ino, sitting sadly on the stage with Sakura and Naruto. She had been crying ever since Shikamaru had fainted an hour ago.

"Look, Ino, he'll be fine. Things like this happen around here all the time, and they always come back looking as good as ever."

"Yeah, Shikamaru's gonna be here Monday all brand spanking new, dattebayo."

Ino shook her head, choking on sobs. "Another Homecoming, ruined."

"Another one? You said you've never been to Homecoming before."

"No, I haven't." She tried to settled down her sobbing, "But I almost did. I told you, Sakura that last year I had a date, but we moved too soon?"

"Yeah."

"A guy named Sai asked me out," She smiled, but frowned right away, "I was so excited, that I searched high and low for an amazing dress to wear. My dad had a hard time playing along, and didn't want me to go. And he got his wish. The week of the dance, he announced we'd be moving again, on the day of the dance."

Sakura nodded and patted Ino's shoulder again. She let a few more tears escape, "When I told Sai I could make it, he just shrugged and asked for the ticket back. He was going to give it to someone else."

"So?"

"So! I thought Sai actually _liked_ me, but it turned out I was just some random chick he thought would look good as his _arm candy!_" She cried and rubbed her eyes. They had grown red from all the tears she had wiped away, "And then this year, I got Shikamaru to take me, and everything was going _wonderful_ until that _bastard_ beat him into a coma!"

"Ino, it's all right," Sakura frowned, "Just calm down, I can see that Homecoming is not exactly your favorite thing in the world. I'm sorry I pressured you into finding a date."

"You didn't pressure me, I got myself into this." She sobbed again, wiped her eyes and stood up, "I have to go, I need to take Shikamaru's car back to his house."

"Do you know where he lives?"

"Yeah, kind of. I'll figure it out." She straightened her purple skirt and waved at Naruto and Sakura, "You should be going too, anyway."

"Will you be okay on the road?"

"I'll be fine."

Sakura and Naruto followed her out into the parking lot, but found they had each parked on different sides of the parking lot. Ino turned away from them and made her way to Shikamaru's Mitsubishi.

"Bye, Ino!" Sakura waved worriedly.

Ino waved a hand back, but didn't reply. She just grabbed the keys she had taken from Shikamaru out of her pocket, unlocked the car and got in. She turned on the engine and made her way out of the campus.

She couldn't help but think that Suna must be the hellhole home of bitches and bastards whose sole purposes were to ruin her life.

* * *

**Ha! You thought it was going to have to do with Temari, didn't you? NOPE! Completely different!**

**This one was hard to write, I completely suck at fight scenes, not to mention I came up with it ALL off the top of my head. I'm just so special.**

**REMEMBER, EVERY TIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING, RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER GETS SICK AND CAN'T MAKE SANTA'S RUN, SO THE OTHER REINDEER CAN'T SEE AND CRASH INTO A BIG SKYSCRAPER AND FALL AND DIE!**

**Save the reindeer, people.**

**(haha, that one was creative)**


	10. Cleaning

_**Day 21**_

Just as Sakura had said, come Monday Shikamaru was in one piece and feeling fine. However, his mother being the paranoid, overprotecting woman she was, she wouldn't allow him to go back to school just yet, so he was required to stay at home. Shikamaru didn't mind, it meant he didn't have to do any work.

But Ino brought his homework to him anyway.

"Hello Mrs. Nara," She said sweetly when the middle-aged woman opened the door. Yoshino Nara smiled and gestured Ino through the door.

"Thank you for bringing his work home, Ino. He's been enjoying his free time a little too much."

"No problem!" She grinned as she slipped off her shoes and stepped into the living room. Unlike her small, cramped apartment, Shikamaru had a cozy, two-story house; the living room was large, with an oriental rug spread out between the lengthy couch and the big screen TV. A coffee table sat right in front of the couch, as well, with a messy assortment of papers and soda cans, most likely left behind by Shikamaru's equally-lazy father. The far wall that faced their backyard was actually completely built as a window, and she could see deer grazing outside.

"His rooms just upstairs, second door on the left."

"Thanks!" Ino adjusted the books and papers she held in her arms, and climbed up the stairway to the left of the living room. It ended in a long hallway, with two or three doors on each side wall. She counted two on the left and knocked on the door with her foot.

"Shikamaru, guess who!"

A little rustling, then a quiet _thump_ was heard within, until the doorknob clicked and the door was opened. Shikamaru appeared in the door way, shirtless and bearing bandages around his forehead and right shoulder. He blinked and grunted at her presence, but didn't say anything in particular.

"I brought you your homework," she grinned, "A few pages of chemistry problems on limiting reactions, I think. You have to read a chapter or two of _Lord of the Flies _for English, as well. And there's some weird assignment from Web mastering, but you can probably do that in class tomorrow."

Shikamaru groaned and took the books, stepping behind him back into his room. He tossed his books onto his desk before returning to the doorway, "That all?"

"Well…"

Ino paused, bringing her hands together and twiddling her thumbs now that her arms were free of the former textbook weight. She didn't want to end up _staring_ – the boy was _shirtless_ for heaven's sake. Not only that, but he looked _good_ that way, too.

"What?" He grunted again, eyes only have open, "You woke me up, you know."

"You lazy bastard!" She immediately laughed, raising her gaze to meet his. She wore a sarcastic look of amazement, "You just slept the whole day away, didn't you, not caring that you were missing school!"

"That's the point." He shrugged and bent over his bed to straighten out the blankets.

"Its things like this that surprise me that you've made it to be valedictorian…" she laughed, thinking about the moment when Sakura had announced this to her, and she broke into fits of laughter because of her amazement. Ino invited herself into his room, ignoring Shikamaru's uneasy stare and surveyed his desk. Papers and books were strewn all over it, and after shifting a few out of place, she uncovered a Dell laptop, with one light blinking green to indicate that the battery was charging. A bookcase stood next to it, the comic books and novels mixed in together in no particularly organized fashion.

Shikamaru twitched an eyebrow, "I didn't say you could come in."

"So?" Ino crossed her arms and looked at his bed. The blankets still completely covered his bed, but were wrinkled enough to show that he had been sleeping there moments prior.

Shikamaru reached a hand behind him to scratch the back of his neck, "I'm not even dressed properly, Ino. I'd really like if-"

"I don't care," she looked back over at his desk and picked up a few of the papers, straightening them into a neater pile, "Maybe I'll stick around for a while and clean up after you, Lord knows you need it."

"You're not my mother, or my maid."

"But I'm your friend." She smiled, hesitating on that last word. Ever since he had kissed her that past Friday, she was never sure what to call their relationship. Ino had never had something like this happen to her, thanks to the supreme isolation set onto her thanks to her father's occupation, and he hadn't ever acknowledged it himself. She was scared to bring it up.

"Mmph," he grunted, then collapsed back onto his bed, grabbing a second pillow that had been lying beside him and covering his eyes. "I'm not helping you, I'm sleeping."

Ino pursed her lips, wishing he would have at least put on a shirt so she wouldn't have to worry about _staring_, but didn't say a word. She turned back to his desk.

All the papers stacked together showed to be at least an inch thick. Ino thumbed through them, wondering what they were for. Some of them were old worksheets from class, all marked with an A+ of 100. Some were pieces of notebook paper that had a few words scribbled across them. She squinted, trying to make out what they said, but could hardly decode his chicken scratch handwriting.

_I guess it's true, geniuses really _do_ have bad handwriting,_ she thought to herself, grinning smugly. She noticed one last piece of paper sitting in his chair and plucked it from its place. He had written plenty big enough on this one, making it easier to read, filling the whole page with one single phone number and a few other words below it. She smirked, recognizing the number and the address below it to be hers. Below both other those items, it read '_Ino Yamanaka – troublesome navy brat, but I like her anyway. Figures.'_

Ino laughed, not sure of she wanted to punch or hug him.

She placed the papers in a neat stack beside his laptop and picked up the few books scattered around it as well, turning to his book cased. She bit her lip, not sure where to start.

_I could group up the comic books first, then arrange the novels by… author? Or maybe title?_ She shook her head, _No, author. That's how it works at the library._ She placed the books she had just gathered on top of the book shelf, and then pulled out every comic book that was stashed away. There weren't many, only about 10. After placing those aside, she cleared out enough room on the top shelf and placed them in a corner there. _Now the novels._

It didn't look like Shikamaru had gotten rid of old books in a long while: there were some there that obviously looked like he had bought them merely for middle school reading class, and others that were dusty or had bent covers, not having been touched in years. She reached for the only _A _book: _Kids Letters to President Bush_ complied and edited by Bill Adler. She laughed, the most amusing children's letters were published in that book, and she couldn't help but laugh every time she had read it once long before.

After placing that one beside the comic books on the first shelf, she continued to sort through the rest of his books. He had quite a few Stephen King books, which didn't surprise Ino too much. _Eragon_ and _Eldest_ also sat together on one of the shelves. When she reached the _R_'s, however, Ino couldn't help but snicker and wake Shikamaru up.

"You read _Harry Potter_!?" She asked, grabbing the six books in the series and placing them together on the shelf. Shikamaru grumbled in response, but didn't budge or remove the pillow from his eyes.

"What of it?"

"I don't know, maybe I'm just surprised."

"It's a good series, damnit. And why are you surprised, when I've got the two books from the _Inheritance_ trilogy sitting up there as well?"

Ino smirked; of course he knew that she had already passed over _Eragon_ and _Eldest_ without a glance. Both series were from the same genre, so it was true that she shouldn't have been surprised. But she agreed that _Harry Potter_ was indeed a good series.

"Ten bucks says Harry dies next book." Shikamaru mumbled.

"No way!" She argued, "Not only would the fans be out to get Rowling for the rest of her life, but that'd just _completely _kill the series."

"Whatever," he grunted, "But someone's going to die."

"As long as it's not one of the three," Ino shrugged, "I'm good."

"The three?" He paused, then added before Ino could explain, "Oh, you mean Harry, Ron, and Hermione."

"Duh."

"Mmph," he said, noting that he was trying to fall back asleep. Ino fell silent once more and finished organizing his books, then got up and straightened out her skirt. She surveyed the room again: clothes littered the ground, and she could tell it really needed a good dusting and vacuuming. But that didn't sound as amusing as going through the crap on his desk and bookshelf.

"If you're done," the lazy boy spoke, lifting the pillow from his eyes to look at Ino, "Why don't you go home?"

"I don't want too," she shook her head; "I like it here."

"Troublesome little…" He groaned, sitting up and rubbing his bandaged shoulder. He suddenly froze, and then looked down at Ino. Ino raised an eyebrow at his shocked expression.

"What is it?"

"I haven't been wearing a shirt this whole time, have I?"

Ino and Shikamaru stared at each other for a few moments, and Ino let a few chuckles escape from her lips. The chuckles quickly grew to be bursts of laughter, and she had to double over and hold her stomach to ease the aching the laughter had caused. She fell and rolled onto her side, still laughing, still clutching her stomach. Shikamaru only continued to stare at her.

He sighed, "Oh well, can't be helped." He reached over to the pile of clothes beneath his feet, rummaging around until he found a nice, seemingly clean shirt. He sniffed it, gave it his approval, and tugged it over his head. Ino's laughter soon settled down, and she crawled over to his bed and sat beside him.

The navy brat leaned her head against his shoulder, and he did nothing to push her away. Shikamaru merely just sat there beside her, back hunched and eyes staring at the wall in front of him. He had a TV in his room, right in front of him, actually, but didn't bother to turn it on.

"Shika-a-a…" Ino cooed sweetly. She was up to something.

"What?"

"Could I stay for dinner?" She asked, with the sweetest voice and face imaginable. He looked down at her, glaring into her puppy-dog eyes and doing his best to resist her. He sighed and looked away.

"You troublesome… it's not my decision, so don't bother."

"_Shikamaru!_" Yoshino could be heard calling from downstairs, "_Does Ino want to stay for dinner!?"_

Ino grinned at him deviously, and he sighed in reluctance, but with the obvious hint that he _did_ in fact want her around gleaming in his eyes, "Fine, fine. Stay."

"Thank you!" She hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek, before running downstairs to let Mrs. Nara know that she would be staying for dinner. Shikamaru sighed, touching his cheek and trying to rub the blush he could feel burning his face away.

"That troublesome girl…"

* * *

**FILLER SINCE YOU CHILDREN DON'T REVIEW!**

**I'm serious, guys, the less reviews I get the less I feel like dishing out more chapters. If you like the story let me know and I'll try to get more done! But if you don't review, you don't get chapters, so PLEASE SEND IN SOME REVIEWS!**

**ALSO!**

**Another thing you might want to keep in mind, is that I'd love some suggestions as to what to do. PLEASE check out the pairings I support on my profile first if you're going to suggest some couple stuff, but otherwise go nuts. Just remember that I may or may not use these, so don't get offended if I don't!**

**So remember…**

**EVERYTIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING, POLLUTION GETS REALLY BAD IN THIS ONE TOWN AND IT CONTAMINATES THE AIR, SO IT GETS TURNED TO ACID AND THEN ALL THE FLOWERS AND GRASS AND STUFF DIE!**

**Save the flowers and grass and stuff, kids.**


	11. New Student?

_**Day 28**_

There was one thing Ino hated more than being a new student at a new school: new students _other_ than her. They start complaining about their recent move, and recapped a lengthy story about moving in all the furniture into their new house, and now they're far from their friends and they've got to start _fresh._ She could never stand it, and would always throw something _hard_ at them and yell "_Well what do you think it'd be like if you did it twice, maybe three times a year!?"_

Not only that, but _this_ new student pissed her off _ten_ times worse. The new arrival was a boy, tall with pale skin and shiny black hair. It was hard to press a label to him; he _looked_ preppy, but he wore dark-colored clothes, namely black jeans and form-fitting black or purple t-shirts.

_Sai,_ she growled, _that bastard has come back to haunt me._

It wasn't like she had a _bad_ time hanging around with him back at Roots High. In fact, she thought he was rather gentlemanly. The only thing that pissed her off was how he just brushed off her move from Roots like it was _nothing,_ not even fazed that he had to find a new date.

Ino sighed, resting her head on the table of her computer in Web mastering class. Across the classroom, Shikamaru had pulled out his pillow, climbed under the table and dozed off already. She decided to take his lead and fall asleep, right there in her chair.

In her mind, the previous events of that day replayed in her head…

* * *

"Kids, we have a new student today." Kakashi announced monotonously. Jiraiya had handed him a brand new book, hot off the presses, and he was obviously _itching_ to read it. "We have a new student." He pointed to the door, where a boy had barely crept in, looming closely to the frame. "Meet Sai…" he paused, knitting his eyebrows together, "Damnit, I already forgot his last name. Just say hello!"

Kakashi gestured for Sai to walk into the room. The boy complied, creeping in slowly and facing the class. A smile somehow found its way across his face, albeit it was a little creepy. He waved a hand, and muttered a small "Hello."

Ino's jaw dropped. In all her years of moving between schools, she had never had someone follow her along. And yet, here he was, Sai from Roots High, the school she had attended two moves ago.

Kakashi surveyed the room before appointing the new student a seat, "Sit behind Ino there, in the corner. It's the last seat left."

Sai nodded and retreated to the seat. Kakashi went over the day's assignment, turned the lights down and placed instructions on the overhead. The students set to work in a matter of moments, and Kakashi was left to read his new book in peace.

"Well, hello, Miss Beautiful."

"Hello, Sai." Ino mumbled, scribbling notes on the short story she had to read. Beside her, Sakura took a short glance at Sai and bit her lip.

"You're the last person I'd expect to see here, how are you?"

"Trust me, the feeling's mutual. Ino turned her head to look at his sideways, "Why _are_ you here?"

Sai frowned, disappointed that Ino had refused to answer his initial question, but decided to answer hers anyway. "Complications at home, I moved out. I'm living on my own in an apartment nearby now."

Ino didn't question him further; she just turned back to her work and nodded.

"Why are you so cold?"

"Because you're a bastard."

"_What?_"

"You heard me."

"Hey! You two!" Kakashi pulled his nose out of his book and glared at Sai and Ino, "Shut up!"

A moment of silence passed over the class, until Kakashi broke his glare and returned to his book. A moment more passed before Sai spoke to Ino again.

"I don't understand."

"Which part, the 'you are' or the 'bastard'?"

"I don't understand _why._"

Ino's pencil froze in mid-scribble, and she dropped it to her desk. She flexed her fingers before twisting in her seat, glaring deep into Sai's emotionless eyes, "You didn't give a _crap_ when I moved. You didn't even care that you needed a new date to the homecoming dance."

"Is that it?" Sai raised his eyebrows, astonished, "I just got over it really quickly. I knew there was the possibility of you moving before the dance, so I didn't get my hopes up too quickly. I'm sorry if that offended you."

Ino didn't feel any remorse towards him; she just scoffed and turned back to her work, "You're still a bastard."

"Maybe I can make it up to you," Sai offered, "Coffee, maybe? Or dinner?"

"HEY!" Kakashi roared, slamming his book into his desk and his eyes on fire, "One more word and you're out of here!"

Not another word was spoken in that class that day.

* * *

**_Day 29_**

_Crap, crap, crap!_

Ino ran down the school halls as fast as she could. She just _had_ to forget to set her alarm last night, and ended up sleeping in! The only plus side was that her father, since he loves her so much, let her take her time and wrote a note for the attendance clerk to excuse her absence. She still got to get in a full breakfast and had plenty of time to get ready for school.

The payment? Miss first period.

Well, not entirely. If she ran fast enough, she could probably get to class before the bell rang and catch the last bit of notes, and probably get all the work she missed.

Unfortunately, that was a very small chance, because Chemistry was all the way on the other side of the school. The second her hand touched the doorknob, the bell rang and the door was slammed right into her face. She fell back and slammed into the wall.

"Oh… I'm sorry," laughed a voice. Ino looked up and glared at the tall blonde girl before her. Temari smirked at her, before leaving the class, closely followed by Shikamaru.

"Hey," he mumbled, "You're late."

"I'm sorry, did I worry you?" She smiled, straightening herself and walking towards him, away from the wall. Shikamaru mumbled and looked away.

"No…" he blushed lightly. Ino giggled, and they started for English class.

"Hey, I was thinking maybe we could hang out today? I want to see a new movie that just came out."

"I… can't." He hesitated between words, "I'm busy tonight."

"Doing what?"

"Chemistry project," He sighed.

"Ah," She decided that she'd take advantage of the fact that she'd just miss chemistry, and grab the assignment and extra work day tomorrow. "You just know that your mom won't let you do anything, huh?"

"…yeah." He mumbled.

"Is everything all right?" She asked, worried, as she opened the door to Kakashi's classroom.

"Yeah," he mumbled. "Everything's fine."

* * *

"Ino."

"_What do you want, Sai!?_"

Kakashi had placed notes on the overhead, laid out perfectly to be copied as he explained them and lectured. Ino was trying to concentrate as Sai whispered in her ear behind her.

"How are you?" He smiled.

"I'm _fine,_ Sai."

"That's good. I was wondering, if you like-"

"I _don't_ like."

"Oh, please, I know you'd love to go see _Disturbia_ tonight."

Ino tapped her pencil on her desk and bit her lip. True, _Disturbia_ was indeed the movie she had intended to see with Shikamaru tonight, but her plans were shot. And she didn't really have a reason _not_ to go…

"I'd rather not."

"Please, Miss Beautiful?"

"_No, Sai!"_ She growled softly, "I'm seeing someone."

"You mean Shikamaru?" He grinned slyly, "I thought he was with Temari."

"He's not."

"I'm pretty sure I saw them chatting this morning, and happily, too."

"Stop trying to throw me off, Sai, it won't work."

"Fine, fine, if you insist."

As Sai retreated back to his note-taking, Ino couldn't help but feel a little frightening jump in her heart.

* * *

After school, Ino sat in the cafeteria, slumped over at a table and waiting for Sakura and Naruto to show up. Naruto had offered to give Ino a ride, seeing as Shikamaru couldn't today for an unspoken reason, and Sakura would be grabbing one as well. They were taking an awfully long time, though.

_What are the doing, making out somewhere!? Good lord, they're slower than Shikamaru!_ She growled to herself and drummed her fingers against her elbows.

"Mind if I join you?"

Ino looked up and blinked nonchalantly at her greeter, "Sure, whatever. I shouldn't be her much longer anyway."

"Thanks," Sai smiled, setting his bag down and sitting across from her at the table. Ino rested her chin on her arms and continued to wait for her ride.

"You know," Sai raised his eyebrows at her and let his smile fade, "I saw Nara leaving with that Suna girl."

"Yeah?" She asked, not interested. She knew it was just another fake excuse for Sai to get Ino on his side.

"I'm serious! Does this look like a face that would lie to you?"

Ino didn't answer; she just stared into his emotionless black eyes and waited for him to go on.

"She got into his car," he added with a bit of sympathy, "And they drove off, probably to his house."

Ino sat up and twiddled her thumbs. His eyes, as emotionless as they may be, didn't lie. He was genuinely telling the truth. Besides that, it all made _sense. _Shikamaru _had_ been acting strange this morning, plus he canceled on her plans. Though he's lazy, Shikamaru had never canceled on her within her last month (nearly) of attending Konoha High. He also couldn't give her a ride home like usual, and said he was busy tonight. Busy with _homework,_ though? Couldn't he just hide his project from his mother for the time being?

"I guess…" she sighed, "I guess you're right. I just don't want to believe you, Shika and I have grown so close…"

"We grew close too, didn't we?" Sai's face relaxed into a neutral stare.

She nodded slowly and stared at her hands, resting in the middle of the table, "Yes, we did. But thanks to misguided conceptions of you, I didn't keep in contact and we grew apart."

Sai reached a hand towards her and rested it atop of hers, "My offer still stands for that movie. I'll buy your ticket and everything."

Ino smiled, though weakly, "Sure, I'll go. But would you give me a ride home? Naruto and Sakura seem to have ditched me to… make out somewhere. Or something."

* * *

**A NEW PLOT. OMG.**

**You're going to kill me, XDDDDD**

**But send in those reviews and we'll see what happens! Because remember…**

**EVERY TIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING, A SNAKE SLITHERS OUT OF A BUSH AND SEES A PERSON, SO IT GETS SCARED AND SLITHERS AWAY BUT THE PERSON STEPS ON IT REAL HARD AND IT DIES!**

**Save the snakes, kids.**


	12. More Like a Study Party

_**Day 30**_

Ino was having the worst time staying awake today.

She had been out later than expected with Said the night before. After seeing _Disturbia _he had convinced her to go grab dinner at Sonic before returning her home. Despite the late hour, Sonic had been decently crowded and they had to wait longer than usual for their food. They didn't order to-go, either, since Sai couldn't eat and drive simultaneously. And he ate _slowly._

All in all, she barely got home in time for curfew, angered her father (but only to a light extent; he was more angry at Sai than he would ever be at his precious daughter), and still had to finish her chemistry homework. She had barely stayed awake in chemistry, and now she was having an even harder time doing so in English.

Gym was going to be _murder._

Kakashi looked at the clock as he turned off the overhead projector and cleaned the notes off of the transparency; only a few minutes until the bell rang. "All right, remember we have a test tomorrow over the first half of _Lord of the Flies."_

Ino's eyes shot open at that moment and she bolted upright in her chair. _Test!? First half!?_ She thought frantically, _I haven't even read the first _chapter!

Things were not looking for the young Yamanaka.

* * *

"So we have a test tomorrow, and _none _of us read the book?"

Sakura nodded and bit into her turkey sub, "I read, but I can't follow along. Nothing sticks."

Shikamaru lifted his head from his arms, de-shielding his sleepy eyes and blinking warily at Ino and Sakura, "Meh."

"We know _you're_ too lazy to read it," Sakura glared. Ino didn't say anything, but instead just stared at her salad. She didn't prefer right now to speak to Shikamaru, still feeling questionable about the precious day. If Sai had been telling the truth that _just_ might have meant that Shikamaru had been lying to her about the supposed 'annoyance' he felt towards Temari. So which boy should she believe?

"I read it," Shikamaru mumbled.

"_You did!?_" Sakura dropped her sub onto its try, slammed her hands into the table and stared at Shikamaru in disbelief, "You read the first half!?"

"The whole thing," Shikamaru mumbled, "My mother took away my DS. I had nothing else to do."

"So you can tell us what happened, right!?"

"It's not like I took notes or anything," he sighed and sat upright, "I could probably recap it for you, but it'd take a while."

"_Perfect!_ We'll all get together tonight and study."

"_What!?_" Ino and Shikamaru nearly yelled at Sakura simultaneously.

"Well, Ino doesn't know the material either, and you're the perfect person to help us out, Shikamaru."

Ino bit her lip, averting her gaze across the table at Choji. Shikamaru drummed his fingers on the table, at a loss of words, and also looked at his comrade for help. The wrestler raised an eyebrow at them both as he stuck his spoon into a pack of pudding.

"…yeah, I read it. But I can't recap, if that's what you want." Choji mumbled in response to Shikamaru's stare, "I don't remember things until I read the test question."

"Great," Shikamaru groaned and slumped in his chair, "I really can't do this tonight."

"Why's that?" Ino raised both eyebrows.

"I'm just… busy."

"Busy," Ino nodded and looked away, "Right."

Sakura frowned and glared at the Nara boy, "You're doing it, regardless of your plans. I'm not letting my GPA drop because of this damn test."

Shikamaru met Sakura's glare with a frightened stare and nodded. He could sense her anger rising and didn't want to do anything more to stir it.

"But where?" He asked.

"Well, we can't go to _my_ house." Sakura mentioned, "My mom would be cool with it but my dad… eh. You don't want to be around him."

"Why? Is he some overprotective control freak like Mr. Yamanaka?" Shikamaru asked sarcastically. Ino glared and prodded him with her fork, receiving a small yelp of pain in return.

"No, he's just… a drunk. A really _random_ drunk. We never know when he's going to drink, or how much."

"And we can't go to my house," Ino added, "It's only a small apartment, and we won't want Shikamaru around my dad. If we get lucky, he _could_ be working the whole time, but I doubt it."

Sakura looked to Choji, "Are you coming?"

"Nope, I don't need to study, I'm good with what I've got and I don't want to think anymore about school stuff than I gotta."

Sakura nodded and she and Ino instantly both stared at Shikamaru expectantly. He sighed and obliged.

"Fine, we'll use my house."

"Perfect!" Sakura grinned, "You're house is big, so if we pull an all-nighter Ino and I can just pull out some sleeping bags and stay in the living room!"

Shikamaru blinked and stared at them, "Please don't turn this into some all out slumber party at my house."

"Oh, you can trust us."

* * *

Shikamaru should've known better than to trust them.

It wasn't exactly the _biggest_ of deals, only a couple other people had shown up, but he was still annoyed. It had started with Naruto, who had scrambled to his door with a pleading look on his face.

"_Please_ let me stay!?" He whined and shifted the books in his hands, "I _really_ need help with my English homework."

"Naruto, you're not even in our class. Hell you're not even in _Pre-AP._ You take regular."

"All the more reason to get you guys to tutor me!"

"Fine, come in," Shikamaru groaned, and allowed him to stumble through the doorway and run into the living room, where Sakura and Ino had pulled out their books and notes, all cluttering the entire surface area of the coffee table, "But if I catch you and Sakura making out _once_, I'm kicking you out!"

"I promise that's not why I came!" Naruto grinned, taking a seat beside the Haruno girl. Ino sighed and shook her head.

"So, what happened in chapter one?"

"Well-" _ding dong!_ "Damnit, who the hell is that!?"

The Nara boy, extremely annoyed, turned in his tracks and opened the door once more. He stared incredulously at the visitor. "What the hell are _you_ doing here?"

"I got a tip," Sai smiled, spinning his key ring on his left for finger and shifting the books tucked under his right arm, "Mind if I join you?"

Shikamaru couldn't respond and kick him out, because Sai just shoved past him in the doorway and joined the others at the coffee, sitting comfortable beside Ino on the floor. She didn't say a word to either him or Shikamaru.

"Wait, a tip?" Shikamaru asked, "From wh- oh crap."

"What is it?"

"_Shikamaruuuuuuuuuu!"_

Instantly, a pair of thin arms latched onto Shikamaru's right arm, which was still holding onto the doorknob. Shikamaru looked down at the latest visitor and groaned.

"_I told you not to come!"_

"I know," Temari pouted, but didn't let go, "But I thought I'd come anyway. It's just a group of friends, right? What harm could it be?"

"Temari," Ino seethed, got to her feet, and joined them both by the door. Shikamaru let go of the doorknob and shut the door with his foot. "Why are you here?"

Temari smiled, "Because he's my lov-"

"Shut the _hell_ up, Temari."

"Aww, don't be _shy._"

"I said _shut up._" Shikamaru glared down at her. The Suna transfer student stared up at him in question, accidentally loosening her grip. He easily freed his arm and walked over to the table.

"So, chapter one…"

* * *

"I'm _bored_."

"Well no one asked you to come, Temari."

"But _Shika,_" She pouted and tapped a pencil on the coffee table. She was slumped over, leaning on her arms which were folded on top of the table. "I thought-"

"I _told you not to come." _He growled, "Now shut up so we can concentrate!"

The group hadn't gotten far within the last hour: there had been too many distractions. Naruto called for a study break every five minutes, during which he kept running into Shikamaru's kitchen and raiding his fridge (Yoshino kicked him out quickly each time, however). When the did work, Sakura would normally have to trail off from concentrating on tomorrows test to help Naruto with his own homework, and when she was finally done she'd have to go back and get Shikamaru to recap everything he had just gone over with Ino and Sai. Sai kept teasing Ino, drawing little cartoons in the margins of her notes frequently and keeping her off task. Ino could barely concentrate since Temari was around, and Temari kept latching onto Shikamaru's arm or waist, each time annoying him more and caused him to stop recapping the book to shove her away. Ino's anger built up with every passing moment of Temari's presence, and the pencil she had broken had to be quickly passed off for just faulty manufacturing.

"Look, we're obviously all having a hard time concentrating," Sai mentioned, setting down his pencil after doodling a heart on Ino's notes, "Why don't we take a break and play a game?"

"We haven't even gotten past chapter one, Sai." Shikamaru stated.

"But it might be just the thing we need to get moving. What do you say?"

"Fine! Whatever." Shikamaru threw his book behind him and shrugged, "I don't give a damn anyway. This whole plan was troublesome in the first place."

"Wonderful, so the game is-"

"Truth or Dare!" Naruto interrupted.

Sai blinked, "No, actually, I was going to say-"

"_Truth or Dare."_ Naruto glared, "That's what we're playing."

"But-"

"Sai, let's just play truth or dare, or Naruto will probably go on a killing spree." Sakura sighed.

"Okay, fine, that works just as well." Sai leaned back onto his hands and surveyed the group, "Who wants to go first?"

"I DO." Naruto seethed.

"Naruto, chill," Sakura patted his shoulder, "He didn't mean-"

"SAKURA!" He roared. She froze and stared back at him in fear. His seething expression from the moment prior instantly turned sickingly sweet with a shiny, toothy smile; "Truth or dare?"

Sakura sighed in relief that he hadn't intended to throw a fit, and leaned back onto the couch behind her, "Dare."

Naruto's grin spread across his face, but as he opened his mouth to speak, Shikamaru slapped a hand onto his mouth and held the index finger of his other hand out to everyone.

"_Wait,_" He said, waiting for Naruto to settle back down before he went on, "Let's establish some rules first." Naruto relaxed back onto the couch and crossed his arms, pouting that he didn't get to choose the dare he wanted to. Shikamaru retreated both hands and eyed everyone at the table, "First of all, nothing homosexual; no one here is kissing or hugging or whatever anyone of the same gender, not in my house." Everyone nodded in agreement, obviously relieved to not have to worry about that, "Second of all, no spilling your deepest secrets or getting all sappy and emo, no one wants to deal with your drama. And lastly, no ones stripping down to nothing but their underwear _or less._" He narrowed his eyes, "Got it?"

"Way to suck the fun out of everything!" Naruto harrumphed.

"Suck it up; I didn't even want you people over here in the first place." Shikamaru growled, then fell back onto the floor to lie down, "Go ahead."

"Fine. Sakura…" Naruto racked his brain for a replacement dare, looking up to the ceiling for help, "I dare you to…"

"I'm also not watching you two make out."

"Damnit, Shikamaru! Stop ruining everything!"

"Just to spite you," the lazy boy laughed.

"Sakura, I dare you to beat him up." Naruto crossed his arms and growled, "Now."

"Oh, come on Naruto, it's not that big of a deal."

"Do it!"

Sakura sighed and got up from her seat on the floor, walked over to where Shikamaru lay and kicked him with her foot, "Get up."

"You can beat me up just fine this way." He mumbled. Ino couldn't help but laugh. Sakura shrugged, tossed a few kicks especially hard to his stomach and chest before retreating back to her spot.

"There, happy?"

"You were holding back!"

"He's nearly asleep! It's not like he'll beg for mercy, no matter what I do!"

Naruto sunk further down, sliding his legs further under the table, which poked out the other side and created am sort of barrier between Ino and Sai. Sakura looked over to Ino and smiled.

"All right Ino, truth or dare?"

"Dare me!" The Yamanaka grinned, "I always choose dare, it's a requirement."

"All right, cool. Temari, would you be a dear and tell me the status of our lazy bastard over there?"

Temari looked at her strangely first, then leaned backwards towards Shikamaru and checked his breathing, "Fast asleep. You better not be doing what I think you are, Haruno."

Sakura ignored her and pointed at Ino, "I dare you, Ino Yamanaka, to kiss Shikamaru fully on the lips for one minute."

* * *

**Waaaaah! I'm sorry guys! It definitely took too long to update this chapter! I'm sorryyyyyyyyy!**

**First of all, I normally type these on my laptop, but the internet doesn't work on it anymore and Word barely works either. I obviously couldn't mail the file to myself and open and finish it on this computer, and I couldn't use my network places because I couldn't access my laptop via this computer or vice versa. So I had to put the laptop on my desk, open up the file and RETYPE more than half of this thing. After that, it was just writer's block.**

**As for the cliffhanger, I know it doesn't seem like much but locking them in a closet isn't an option when one is fast asleep.**

**So… don't kill me? That'd be awesome, kids.**

**EVERY TIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING, MY HEADACHE GETS WORSE AND SOON GETS SO BAD THAT MY HEAD EXPLODES AND I DIE!**

**Which in turn, equals me not even being able to write stuff.**

**SAVE ME, FOLKS!**


	13. Borderline Brawl

_**Day 30 continued**_

"I dare you, Ino Yamanaka, to kiss Shikamaru fully on the lips for one minute."

Ino was at a loss for words. It shouldn't be hard to do, right? They'd kissed before… well, he had kissed her. And when she had kissed him the second time, it was only on the cheek. Still, he was asleep. It really shouldn't be a big deal.

Except Temari and Sai were here, which made it a thousand times more awkward.

"Well?" Sakura folded her arms and grinned, "We're waiting."

"No way!" Temari slammed a fist into the coffee table, "I'm against this! Shikamaru's _mine!_"

Ino glared at Temari, rage building up. "He doesn't _belong_ to _anybody._ He's not a dog!"

"What? What's this?" Temari leaned over the table and gritted her teeth, "Are you trying to start something with me?"

"No."

"It sure sounds like it, bitch!"

Ino narrowed her eyes, "You know what? I'm just going to do my dare, how does that sound?" Ino pushed herself away from the table and crawled around it to Shikamaru.

Temari snatched her arm, keeping her from going too far, "_Don't you dare_."

"Temari! Its part of the game, leave her alone!" Sakura demanded.

Ino smiled sweetly at Temari, "That's right; it's part of the game. Why don't you let us finish it? Except, we all know whose going to win."

"You mean _me?_"

"I mean _me."_ Ino used her free arm to point her thumb at herself, "I don't care what's going on between you and Shikamaru, but I do know that I _don't like it_, and I'm sure he doesn't either. You're just full of crap, Temari."

Growling, the Suna student let go and crossed her arms. Ino finally looked away from her, knowing that the next day at school this would come back to haunt her. But for now, that would stay in the back of her mind, because she had more _pressing_ matters to deal with now.

She inhaled deeply, and gradually leaned over to kiss him. Sakura roared behind her "_Hurry up, damnit!"_ Ino ignored her, though she wanted to just go over there and smack her in the face. Instead, she leaned over all the way and kissed Shikamaru fully on the lips, just like she was dared to do.

The kiss seemed to last an eternity. She couldn't tell if he had awoken and registered what was going on, because he still lay perfectly still beneath her as she kissed him. Ino tried not to let this bother her, he _was_ lazy, after all… but this was a little much.

"All right," Temari growled, "I think it's been a minute!" Ino ignored her, not lifting her lips away from Shikamaru's. She was determined to get a response of some sort from him, and possibly piss Temari off enough to get her to leave. She lifted her hands and rested one on his shoulder, the other further up his neck, and deepened the kiss. Sakura and Naruto smirked, slapping hands underneath the table. They'd done well. But a moment too long had passed, and Ino now had her doubts. Giving up, she began to pull away from the boy she had grown so close to in merely a month.

However, as she pulled away, he sat up with her.

"_Don't stop._" He muttered, reaching both arms around her slim waist and kissing her again. A chill ran Ino's spine in surprise. He _had _been awake! She smiled and hung her arms around his neck, kissing him back. She knew Temari was fuming behind them.

She was right. Temari grew so mad, that she finally just marched up to them and tore them apart. Ino blinked; surprised that he had been pulled away from her so quickly. She felt the heat in her face rise as it changed color to match it. Her lips tingled with a longing to taste his once more. Shikamaru, across from her, blinked lazily but was also steadily growing red. The realization that they had nearly been making out in front of two of their closest friends, plus two others that weren't even supposed to be there, let along know where this house was, was sinking in.

"_Shikamaru!_" Temari growled, ignoring Ino and looking straight into the Nara's eyes, "You're supposed to be _mine!_"

"Since when, Temari!?" He roared back, standing up so that his height would challenge hers.

"Since… well, you know!"

"_You_ picked _me;_ I didn't want anything to with you. I was trying to save myself for Ino, even. And I didn't want her to find out!"

"About you and me? It's not like it's embarrassing."

"Wait. What about you and him?" Ino asked as calmly as she could, trying not to jump to conclusions.

"I _told_ you, we're lo-"

"Project partners," Shikamaru interrupted, "The day you missed chemistry, Ino, Iruka assigned a chemistry project. I was lumped in a pair with Temari."

She sighed in relief, _Thank the lord it's not what I thought!_ "So that's all! I didn't even know there was a group project, Iruka just said to do it by myself!"

"We were going to work on it tonight," Shikamaru crossed his arms in contemplation, while Temari crossed hers in anger, "But when you and Sakura forced _this_ upon me, I had to cancel." He shot a glance at Temari, "But not reluctantly."

"And I pissed off!" Temari threw her hands in the air, and then moved to grab her bag, "I'm not speaking to you anymore, Nara. I'm leaving!" She stormed out the door.

When the door slammed behind her, and it clicked to note that it was securely shut, Naruto clenched both fists and quietly cheered, "Yes! The wicked witch is gone!"

"Hallelujah, thank the lord!" Sakura cheered along.

Shikamaru turned away from the group and walked to the door to lock it. Ino crawled back to her original spot by Sai, keeping her eyes off of every other being in the room. Her embarrassment had grown too large now, and she _really_ wished she could leave. Instead, she leaned over on the table and buried her face in her arms, feigning tiredness.

"Ino," Sai said softly beside her, "It's still your turn."

Shikamaru sat back down at the table and instantly lay onto his back and closed his eyes once more. He could sleep more soundly without a certain obnoxious Suna transfer student around. "Fine," Ino mumbled into her arms, "Sai, truth or dare?"

"Hmmm," he pondered, "Truth."

Ino shifted her head to the side so she could look up at him and blinked lazily, "I don't know…" she mumbled, "Tell us your favorite color or something."

"Ino! You're so boring!" Sakura whined, reaching over and shoving her head a little, "Fine. Sai, tell us who you like."

Ino's eyes shot wide open, and she immediately looked at Sakura in warning. _No! _She though frantically, _that'll just bring chaos!_

Sakura, however, didn't catch the memo, "Well?"

"Hmmm…" Sai stroked his chin, "She's beautiful, with shining blonde hair and a feisty temper."

"Did she just walk out the door?" Shikamaru laughed from his spot flat on the floor. He was still awake, apparently.

"No, she's still sitting in this room."

"Ahh…" he chuckled lightly. It took a moment for those words to sink into everyone's skin, before Sakura and Naruto exchanged surprised looks and Shikamaru bolted upright, clutching the coffee table's edge and staring at Sai with bloodshot eyes, "You _what!?_"

"It's true, I like Ino." He turned his head to smile at her. Ino blinked uneasily and buried her face back into her arms. "I took her out on a date the other night, in fact: dinner and a movie."

Shikamaru dropped his jaw, amazed, and pointed from Sai to Ino, "You and her?"

"Yes. Are you jealous? Maybe this wouldn't have happened if you hadn't mysteriously disappeared with _Temari._"

"I told you, we're project partners." Shikamaru seethed, not wanting to scream and yell like Ino had at her own adversary moments before.

"Pretty close for project partners. I just think Ino needs to be with someone who can offer her all of his time and energy."

Ino banged her head against her arms, wishing more and more that Sai would just _shut up._ Shikamaru noticed this and reached for his book still open on the table, clenched it tightly in his fist before he threw it at Sai's head. It came in contact with a quick _smack!_ sending Sai falling to the floor.

Luckily for Sai, it wasn't a hardcover. He touched two fingers to his head lightly, before scrambling to his feet and kicking the book aside, "What the hell was that for!?"

Shikamaru calmly stood to his feet, utilizing what half of an inch height advantage he had against the new student, "You're only making things more uncomfortable here for Ino," he seethed, "She doesn't like you, okay? I don't know the whole story about you and her from before, but I do know she doesn't like you. In fact, her borderline _hates_ you. And I suggest you step out of my house immediately."

Sai slit his eyes, "You and what army?"

"You haven't met my mother, have you?"

Sai glared deeper before he stuffed his things haphazardly into his bag and slung it over his shoulder, "This isn't over, Nara."

"I wouldn't expect it to be. Have a nice trip home."

Sai smiled goodbye at Ino, who felt as if she were sinking lower and lower into a pit of embarrassment, before leaving without any parting words for the rest of them. He slammed the door behind him, and moments later they could hear his car revving up outside and speeding away.

A moment of silence passed as Shikamaru glared at the door, Ino tried to shrink as small as she could in her seat and buried her head as far as it would go into her arms, and Naruto and Sakura did their best to withhold the snickers tickling their throats.

"Woah, Shikamaru!" Naruto guffawed, not able to hold his snickering in any more, "I didn't know you had it in you!"

"No, no, he did beat up Gaara the other week," Sakura said, doing a better job at holding it in than Naruto but still letting her laughter escape, "Shikamaru's a fighting machine!"

"Maybe Ino's _too_ good an influence on him!"

"Yeah, Ino's pretty fiery herself. You see those looks she gave Temari? I'm surprised that bitch is still alive!"

Ino removed her arms from underneath her head, using them instead as a barrier. She placed her hands on the top of her head and used her arms to shield her face from everyone. She _really_ didn't want to be here anymore.

"So…" Shikamaru sighed, relaxing back into his usual lazy attitude and taking a seat back at the coffee table, "Chapter one?"

* * *

**That one was pretty short. But I didn't really see a reason to go on from there!**

**I'm not **_**entirely**_** sure where I'm going to go from here. I'm a little stumped, so any feedback you give will be appreciated. I do want to stay out of all this 'rawr I'm gonna kill you die!' stuff for a while, so I'll try and come up with some fluffy and super fun for chapters to come.**

**Ino's not moving yet!**

**EVERY TIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING RYAN STILES FROM WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY MAKES A BAD JOKE AND THE AUDIENCE GOES 'OMGZNOOO!' AND GETS REALLY MAD, THEN DREW CAREY LOSES MONEY AND HIS SHOW GETS CANCELED!**

**Save the TV show, folks.**

**(hahahahaha, not an animal!)**


	14. So Pop the Question!

_**Day 35**_

Ino could only smile as she walked into school that day.

It had been more than a month since she moved here, and her father looked to be too buried in work to be transferred any time soon. She'd found some amazingly hysterical friends and even one particularly lazy boy she had just about fallen in love with. Since the incident last Wednesday, news had spread quickly (by Sakura and Naruto's hands, no doubt) throughout the school that Shikamaru and Ino were dating now, that they were _boyfriend and girlfriend._

However, Ino didn't agree. She didn't believe things were quite _official_ yet. No words had been spoken between them finalizing such things. Yes, he held an arm around her shoulders when they walked together protectively, showing she was taken and to ward off people like Sai. Yes, they had kissed. Yes, she absolutely _adored_ this boy and wanted nothing more than to be with him the rest of her life, strange as that may seem after only knowing him for a month.

But words had to be spoken. He had to ask her to be his girlfriend, no questions asked. And she wasn't about to ask _him_ about being her boyfriend. No, Ino had traditions to follow. The boy had to ask the girl, it was his job.

The problem, however, was to get him to _do it_.

Plans were to be formulated.

* * *

"_I don't know what to do anymore!_"

Sakura frowned at the elegant script that had been written so hastily on the torn piece of notebook paper thrown at her by the blonde next to her just then. She could tell, without looking to her side, that Ino was upset (though looking that way only confirmed things. Ino was hunched far over her notes, scribbling hearts in the margin of her worksheets, then shading them in).

"_What do you mean?" _Sakura scribbled back, then tossed the note back to her after making sure that Kakashi was occupied enough with his book.

"_I mean about Shikamaru and me."_

"_What are you talking about? You two look happy as clam together. You're the perfect couple!"_

"_Not an official couple! He has yet to ask me to be his girlfriend."_

"_You could just ask him to be your boyfriend…"_

"_No! That goes against all my traditions!"_

"_What traditions? You've never had a boyfriend before!"_

"_The boy always has to ask the girl."_

"_That's bullshit."_

"_Naruto asked you."_

"_That's only because I rejected him before. I _did_ ask Sasuke, though, remember?"_

"_And he rejected you."_

"_Shut up."_

"_You have to help me! Please?"_

"_Fine, I'll tell him to 'ask you out.'"_

"_NO! You can't just _tell_ him! He has to figure it out on his own! You can only guide him there!"_

"_How is telling him now guiding?"_

"_It's telling. Not helping. You don't learn things that way."_

"_I hate your rules." _Sakura scribbled, and crumpled the paper up into a ball. She threw it at Ino, nailing her in the head. The ball bounced off that shiny blonde hair and onto Ino's desk, who squeaked when it hit her and glared at Sakura as she de-crumpled the paper.

"Hey!" Kakashi shouted, frowning behind the cloth mask he wore over the lower half of his face, "What are you two doing?"

"Nothing, sensei!" Sakura sweat-dropped, waving a hand. Ino grinned sheepishly and tried to hide behind the kid in front of her, "There's no problem!"

"Then what's that?" Kakashi asked, pointing at Ino, or rather, the note in Ino's hand.

"Well, it's…. uh…" Ino stared down at the crumpled note in her hands, then to Kakashi and back to Sakura, "It's… uh…."

"A note?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow, nodding.

"Uh…"

"Is it important?"

"….uh…."

"I'm sure you wouldn't mind sharing it with us, then?"

"…uhhh…." Ino looked to Sakura, scared, and then looked across the room to Shikamaru. He boy sat there, leaning against the wall (as is desk was situated in the far corner, where he could comfortable lean against the wall in his seat). He showed little interest, as always, but was looking straight in her direction, awaiting her to answer.

_Brrrrrring!_

Ino instantly shoved her books into her bag as the bell rang, bolting out the door without waiting for Kakashi to officially dismiss the class. Sakura followed not far behind, and they both ran off to disappear within the lunch crowd. Ino was sure to tear up the note and dispose of it right away.

* * *

"So what do you say, I can try to slip the message to him subtly through some light conversation."

"He doesn't talk much though, so that complicates things."

"Maybe you should just wait…"

"No way! That'll take a thousands years!"

Ino, Sakura, and Hinata huddled in a corner during gym class, observing the lazy boy in question from across the court. Sakura dribbled her basketball impatiently, while Ino pursed her lips and held hers against her hip and Hinata hugged her own to her stomach. Ino tapped her foot impatiently, then shot an annoyed glance at Sakura.

"Would you _stop_ that? You're disrupting my train of thought!"

"I don't know what's got you so wrapped up about this. All we gotta do is get Naruto to annoy him enough to drive him into the point of insanity, where he'll do whatever he wants to get him to shut up. It's that simple. Or, you know, _you could ask him!_"

"Sakura, do you not understand anything? At all?" Ino groaned, "You're as impossible as my father." Sakura rolled her eyes, then tossed her ball at Hinata, who panicked and dropped her own in order to catch it. Hinata fumbled with the ball for a few seconds before voicing her own concerns.

"You could always… just… or I could… I could go talk to him for you. I'll say whatever you want me to."

Ino's face lit up at the idea, "Great! That's perfect!" She turned abruptly to her side, facing Hinata, and took the dark-haired girl by the shoulders, "All right, listen to me and do _exactly what I say…_"

Sakura's jaw dropped, "Isn't that what I've been saying all day!?"

Ino ignored her and finished up what she was saying to Hinata, who nodded weakly and handed the basketball in her hands to Sakura. She tugged at her gym shirt and crossed the court, over to the basket that Shikamaru and Naruto were standing by.

"Hello Shikamaru," Hinata smiled shyly and she approached the two boys, "Hello Naruto."

"Hey Hinata!" Naruto grinned before launching a basketball into the air, completely missing the hoop. He growled to himself, but shook it off and smiled again to Hinata, "How are things between you and Kiba?"

"Wonderful," Hinata smiled back and looked over to Shikamaru, "How are you?"

"Mmmph," he mumbled, leaning against the wall, his basketball for the day lying at his feet.

"I hear that… ah… things between you and Ino are going quite smoothly."

"Yeah." Shikamaru nodded, while Naruto could be heard snickering a few feet away.

"But I guess you two aren't dating yet, are you?"

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru raised both eyebrows, "Of course we aren't."

Hinata stared back, a little surprised. This wasn't the answer she, or Ino, was expecting, "Well, everyone thinks you are-"

"Everyone can go to hell," he closed both eyes and leaned his head against the wall, "but we're not a couple."

"Pssh, you are too. I won't let you forget last week!"

Shikamaru ignored Naruto, "Look, I've never had a girlfriend before. Tell Ino that if she wants me to be her boyfriend, she'll have to wait."

"What do you mean?"

"I know she sent you over here," Shikamaru looked at her accusingly, "You would never approach Naruto and I unless you were told to. You're too shy, Hinata."

Hinata hung her head in shame, and nodded, "Of course. But you know, she really likes you. I don't see why you have to wait…"

"I have my reasons." Shikamaru looked across the court to the blonde beauty who was trying her hardest not to seem as if she were staring at him. "And you can let her know," he laughed, "I like her too. There's nothing for her to worry about."

* * *

"_I don't want to wait!_" She nearly screamed to her empty home that day at four-twenty. The school day was over, and Ino had hitched a ride home with Shikamaru from school, as always. But the whole ride she stared angrily out the window and didn't say a word. And he didn't say anything to her, either.

She walked away from the door, ignoring the fact that she had a load of homework to do for the next day, sunk into her couch and pressed a pillow hard into her face. She wanted to cry.

_It's not fair that he does this to me…_ she thought sadly, _If he likes me that much, and I like him even more, then why wait? Why can't he just ask me out now? What's _wrong_ with him!?_ She pulled the pillow off her face and stared, disappointed, at the ceiling. After a short moment, she shifted her head to look across the room to the front door, where her backpack laid in the middle of the entrance, her purse just a few feet away from it.

She pulled herself back to her feet, then dragged herself back across the room and swept up her purse. She sat back down onto the couch, opened the bag up and fished around for her cell phone. She found it, switched it on, and opened up her phonebook.

The name_ Nara Shikamaru_ stared back at her as soon as she had scrolled down into the N's.

His photo ID was just a simple mug shot she had snapped of him after about an hour of begging. He merely stared back at the camera, uninterested, but with a smug look at the same time. How was that even possible?

She sighed and pressed _okay_, pressed the phone to her ear and collapsed into the many throw pillows that lined the side of the couch. The phone rang three times before the lazy boy finally picked up.

"Whaaat?" he could immediately be heard groaning, "I just got home!"

"I need to talk to you." Ino frowned.

"And it couldn't be said in the car? The whole time you sat silently. Did you have to let the anger build up first before you decided to instead explode at me via phone?"

Ino paused for a moment, straightening his words out before responding, "Yes. I have an issue to discuss with you."

"If it's about me dating you, save it."

"_Why do you have to be so smart!?_" She whined, kicking her feet against the couch's cushions below her, "I don't understand it, Shika, why?"

"Why what?"

"Why haven't you asked me out yet!?"

"You really want to know?"

"_Yes!_"

"I want to make sure this isn't a fluke," he sighed, "and be sure that you won't fall just as easily for some guy like Sai again."

Ino paused, considering this, for a moment. "…Shikamaru?"

"Yeah?"

"You are such a girl."

He groaned, "What now?"

"I thought guys were only in it for the sex," she laughed, glad her dad wasn't around to eavesdrop on her conversation right now, "The girls are the ones who worry about making it last."

"I'm… in it for the sex." He laughed back, "But I care about what you want, too."

"Good. But I swear to you that I really _do_ like you Shikamaru, and people like Sai won't even _faze_ me anymore."

A clicking could be heard on the other side of the line, but Ino ignored it, "That's good to hear."

"So…"

"So what?" The clicking ceased. A thud followed it.

"Will you be asking me out any time soon, then?" She asked, giggling. She waited for his witty response, but before he said anything her doorbell suddenly rang. Maybe her mother forgot her keys? "Hold on, Shika. Door."

She hopped to her feet and scrambled to the door, fumbling with the lock until it finally let its grip on the door go (nasty, stubborn thing that is), and tugged the door open. The lazy Nara boy in question stood there, his cell phone still held securely to his ear, smirking down on her.

Ino stared at him, then at her own phone in her hand, and then back at him. Shikamaru let his laughter escape him, clicked his phone off and stashed it away in his pocket. Ino didn't move, she only stared at him in surprise. "But… but you were…"

"You know I don't live that far, Ino. I left when you asked me why we still weren't dating."

"But… but…" She dropped her jaw further, her hands beginning to shake. Shikamaru let himself in and closed the door behind him, then took her hand that was still holding her cell phone and shut it, pulling it away from her and stuffing it into her pocket. He rested his other hand on the top of her head.

"Ahhh, Ino. Calm down, it's not a big deal. You're being troublesome." She nodded to him, closing her gaping mouth and rested her rams at her sides. She still questioned him, however.

"Why are you here?"

"What was it that you asked me last, on the phone?" He asked, rolling his eyes upward to think, "Ahhh… When I would be asking you out, right?"

"Yeah…" she nodded, slowly. He wasn't straightening things out for her at all.

"Well, then, some things are better done in person, right?" He smirked and looked her straight in the eye, brown meeting blue. She blinked at him, waiting. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

Ino grinned widely, screaming, and latched her arms around his neck, "Finally, finally, finally! You've asked!"

"Whoa, wait a minute!" He laughed, trying to pry her away but failing, "You sort of need to answer."

"_Of course!"_ She nearly screamed into his hear, making him wince him pain but still smiling all the same. She hugged him even tighter, "You're _amazing_, Shikamaru."

"Yeah, yeah," instead of prying her away, he hugged her back, "You are too." Shikamaru tugged away by only a couple of inches, just so he could look into her eyes once again, "No matter how troublesome you really are."

"Thanks for coming." She smiled softly.

"Uh huh." He relaxed back into that lazy stare. Neither of them let go from the hug, and stood there for a few moments, simply looking at each other. Eventually, unspoken words made themselves clearer and both simultaneously leaned in, meeting in one sweet kiss that officially sealed the deal.

Which was a wonderful thing, you know, only until the lock of the door clicked and the doorknob started to rattle.

"I'm home!" The hefty voice of Inoichi Yamanaka roared, as the large wooden door swung open and revealed him standing there in full uniform. "Anyone-" his eyes rested on the happy couple standing only a few feet away from him, "…home?"

"Uh…. Hello Daddy…" Ino grinned sheepishly, pushing Shikamaru away. The Nara boy's face glowed a brick red and he did his best to look away from both Yamanakas. Inoichi's eyes darted between the two of them before they finally rested entirely on Shikamaru, glaring strongly.

"_WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING TO MY DAUGHTER!?_"

"Shikamaru, I think you better go."

Shikamaru nodded and inched towards the door, watching Inoichi the entire way, then bolted outside to his car once he had reached the doorway.

"_THAT'S RIGHT, YOU BETTER RUN!_

**

* * *

**

**But still…**

**EVERY TIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING, WILL SMITH GROWS AN AFRO SO LARGE THAT IT EATS HIM ALIVE AND HE DISAPPEARS FROM HUMANITY!**

**Save the actor, kids.**


	15. Weekend Business Trip?

_**Day 39**_

"Bye, Shikamaru!" Ino waved from her front door as her new boyfriend drove away from the apartment. Another school day had passed by without a hitch. He would have come in for a while before leaving, but Ino had noticed when they pulled up that her father's silver Mustang was parked in his usual parking space. It wouldn't be the best of ideas for Shikamaru to stay along more than he needed to.

She opened the door and stepped inside, slipping off her thong sandals and throwing her bag onto the ground beside them. Homework was light today, she had managed to finish it all during Web Mastering. The weekend was completely free now of unwanted school reminders.

"I don't want to do this to her, you know."

"I'm sure she'll be just fine with it. It's hardly a big deal at all."

_What's going on?_ Ino thought, tip-toeing her way over to the swinging door that led to the kitchen. She stood beside it, on the side that hinged the door in place, and listened in. She never _did_ care about eavesdropping, anyway. Conversations were meant to be heard, right? No matter who by!

"It's just not a very… comfortable idea."

"It's the only sensible choice there is. I know it's hard, but it's going to be this way for good, someday. Might as well prepare her for it, anyway."

_Prepare? What? …we're not… _moving_ already… are we?_

"I don't know…" Inoichi could be heard sighing.

"It'll be all right."

_What'll be all right? Spit it out!_ Ino clenched her fist, restraining herself from bashing it into the wall beside her. She wanted to know what was going on. Wasn't it too early to move, anyway? This was the way she had always learned of it; standing by the door, eavesdropping, learning that she would be moving away days before her parents actually gathered the strength to tell it to her face. They had never figured it out before.

Growling, Ino's patience finally ran out. She kicked the swinging door open, slamming it into the wall as she stepped through, "What's going on!?"

"Ino!" Her mother called, surprised, "I didn't hear you come in."

"I just got home. Now tell me, what's going on!?"

"Ah, you heard…" Inoichi sighed, then pulled out a chair beside him. Ino's chair. "Sit down, dear, we'll tell you."

Ino frowned and relaxed her clenched fists, making her way over to the table. She calmly sat down in the wooden chair, placed her hands feebly onto her lap and looked up at her father with curious eyes.

"How do I put this…"

_Just say it,_ she lowered her eyes, disappointed, _we're moving_.

"You're mother and I," he began, "Are leaving this weekend on a short trip."

Ino's eyes immediately darted back to his face and she furrowed her brow, "Whatchoo talking 'bout, dad?"

He laughed, "Chouza Akimichi is the head chef at a five star hotel about an hour away from here. His boss rewarded him with a free weekend's stay at the hotel for him, his wife, and some of his friends. He's invited your mom and I, along with the Naras. We leave tonight, and return late Sunday."

"It's a casino hotel, as well, that's why he's not bringing Choji or allowing you or Shikamaru to come," her mother added, "So we've been discussing what the three of you would be doing about where to stay for the weekend. The decision we came to was that the three of you would stay together at Shikamaru's house until we returned."

"Which I am against!" Inoichi crossed his arms and harrumphed, "Ino alone with two teenage boys!? Preposterous!"

"But they're my friends," Ino sweat-dropped, "It would be okay, wouldn't it?"

"I don't want you around that… that _lazy_ _boy_! You two will get _intimate!_"

"Daddy, I assure you we'll behave."

"_I don't like it!_"

"We don't have any other choice anyway, and it's only for the weekend." Her mother argued, "All three of them need a place to stay, and they're old enough to take care of themselves. It'll be okay to leave them together for the weekend. Ino, go pack your bags. We'll drop you off there in a few hours."

"Oh… Kay…" Ino nodded and excused herself from the table. Her father was still fuming when she left. She ran to her room, shut the door, and pulled out her suitcase, laughing all the while. The weekend alone with Shikamaru? _Excellent!_ This weekend was surely going to be interesting.

It was the perfect weekend for her to not have any homework.

* * *

A couple hours later, full of speed-packing and a few disagreements between father and daughter (over what Ino was packing. Inoichi didn't agree with some of the things she packed, even though they would pass for school appropriate, and didn't see why she needed so much underwear), Ino stood at the Nara's front door with a large suitcase and her parents behind her. Inoichi was mumbling something distasteful under his breath, and doing so caused him to receive warning glances from his wife. He soon let his mumbles die away as the doorknob squeaked and the door creaked open.

"Come on in," Yoshino Nara smiled, ushering the small family of three into the house, "Just a moment, we're getting ready." She beamed at them before turning her head and glaring at her husband, "_Shikato!? Have you got those suitcases ready _yet"

"Ahhh, hold on. Troublesome woman." The older Nara male groaned, tugging two suitcases down the stairway. Shikamaru followed behind him. "Here, all ready."

Satisfied, Yoshino smiled and turned back to the Yamanakas, who were unfazed by her sudden mood swing, "The Akimichis are waiting in the living room. We're all traveling in their van, it's easier that way."

"Excellent! Inoichi, would you mind moving out suitcases to their van?" Mrs. Yamanaka sweetly asked her husband. The male Yamanaka didn't move a muscle.

"I'm not moving from this spot."

"Go out there and move the suitcases! _Now!_" She nearly roared. Out of fear of his wife's rage, Inoichi nodded and ran out to the car.

"Well, you're here!" Chouza Akimichi said with a hearty laugh as he approached the threshold. "We can leave, then."

"Hold on, now, Inoichi is moving our bags."

"NO!" Inoichi yelled, panting, as he ran back to the doorway, "I'm done. They're moved."

"Then it's time to-"

"NO!" Inoichi roared again, holding up both hands, "Where are those two…" he looked from Shikato to Chouza, "You _sons_ better be careful this weekend, in matters concerning my daughter!"

"Oh lord, Inoichi, calm down." Shikato rolled his eyes and sighed, "You were like this when they were newborns, too. Nothings going to happen to your precious daughter, all right? They're all well behaved."

Shikamaru, standing beside his father, wondered if anyone realized that Ino and he were standing there right in the middle of the conversation.

"Yeah, well…" Inoichi straightened himself and crossed his arms, "I have a few matters to discuss."

"Oh my, look at the time!" Mrs. Yamanaka clapped her hands and grabbed her husband's arm, "We'll be late, time to go!"

"What do you mean _late!?_ It's a hotel!"

"Let's go, honey!" She tugged him out of the house, ignoring his roars for freedom and to straighten things out with Ino's two weekend roommates. The Akimichis and Naras followed their lead and waved goodbye to the three teenagers and left the house as well. Moments later, when everything and everyone was packed into the van, it roared to life and drove away.

"Well," Shikamaru finally spoke as the van was out of sight, "That's finally over. I was afraid your father would positively kill me."

"He almost did…" Ino nodded, also watching the horizon to make sure her father wouldn't end up jumping out of the van and running back. "Yeah… hey! Where's Choji?"

"Kitchen," he answered, and Ino immediately nodded again. Shikamaru closed the door and turned to Ino, "Well, guess I'll show you two your rooms now. Choji!"

"Yeah?" The plump boy popped his head out of the kitchen, a bag of chips in hand, "What?"

"Come here, man." Shikamaru motioned him over. Choji obeyed, joining the two at the foot of the staircase, "All right, one of you stays in my parents' master bedroom, and the other gets the guest room. You can rock-paper-scissors it, I guess."

Ino and Choji exchanged glances, and Choji shrugged, "No need to rock-paper-scissors anything. Let Ino have the master bedroom, she'll enjoy it more."

Ino smiled and didn't argue, "All right! Where is it? I want to put this bag away."

"Upstairs, first door on your left." Shikamaru pointed. She nodded and tugged her suitcase away.

* * *

"Hellooooo." Ino cheered, plopping down onto the couch beside Shikamaru, who was comfortably sitting in the corner of it with his feet propped up on the coffee table, flipping channels on the television. She leaned her head onto his shoulder and hugged his arm, "What are you watching?"

"Mmm…" he mumbled, "Nothing in particular."

"Pick a show already, Shikamaru." Choji said from the lounge chair beside them, making his presence known, "You've been flipping for ten minutes."

"I'm not watching cooking, Choji. You'll go and tear apart my kitchen again."

"I don't care what you watch! You won't stop flipping!"

"Give me that." Ino growled, swiftly nabbing the remote from Shikamaru's hands and flipped channels herself. She quickly saw a program she recognized and liked, and shoved the remote behind her back to signify that she had made a decision, and it wasn't being changed. Shikamaru sighed.

"Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? Please."

"CANADA! IT'S CANADA!" Choji roared at the television.

"It's this or watching you flip channels, Shika. I choose this. I'm sure Choji does, too." Choji paid no mind to Ino's comment, because he was currently cheering loudly that he had gotten the question right.

"All right, all right! Next question!" Choji grinned from the chair, staring at the television eagerly, "What disease did Jonas Salk find the cure for?"

"Polio." Shikamaru said instantly. Choji agreed and started yelling the word at the television absentmindly. (_"What do you _mean_ you need to use a cheat!? The answer is easy!_")

"By the way, Shika," Ino poked his stomach, "I'm tempted to clean that room of yours again. Good lord, you mess it up quickly. I didn't think that was possible."

"You cleaned his room before?" Choji laughed, turning his attention away from the program when they went to a commercial (and right before they revealed the answer, too!). "What, did you have to drag him off his lazy ass to help?"

"He slept through it." Ino laughed along with him. Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Except I did wake him up to question his book selection."

"Forget the books, I know he's never cleaned his room in all of his existence. Tell me, did you find anything _interesting_ when you were cleaning up all that crap?"

"Ohmigod!" Ino clasped both hands to her mouth to prevent a fit of giggles, "Yes! I found his pajamas! The light green ones with the little deer printed all over them! _And they had footies!_" Shikamaru face-palmed, and didn't remove his hand from his face. Choji burst into guffaws of laughter.

"What else, what else!?"

"Ah…" Ino went into deep thought, recollecting the memories of that day, "Let's see…"

"No, no!" Shikamaru groaned, "Let's not see. I'm going to bed."

"Aw, it's so early!" Ino whined, tugging on his arm as he motioned to stand up, "Stay here and watch the game show with us!" She motioned to Choji, who had returned to roaring answers at the television, as the commercials had ended and Jeff Foxworthy had shown back up on the screen, "Please?"

Shikamaru stared down at her pleading face, his eyebrow twitching in an attempt to not be won over by her pouting lips and watery eyes, "…._fine,"_ He groaned again, collapsing back onto the couch and crossing his arms. Ino smiled and hugged his arm again, snuggling up to him as much as possible.

"_Australia, damnit! Australia!!_"

* * *

"Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru looked up from the kitchen sink as he rinsed the last of the foamy soap off his rough hands. Ino frowned at him, tugging at the bottom of the large T-Shirt she had decided to wear to bead. She cocked her head to the side and sent him a puzzled glance, "What are you doing still up? I thought you said you were tired."

"Ah, nothing. Troublesome…" He sighed, wiping his hands on the dishtowel hanging on a rack beside the sink. Ino shoved her hands into the pockets of her plaid flannel pants and continued watching him. He scratched his head and made his way to the staircase, "It's not like I'm up that much later than you two, anyway. Choji went to sleep more than a half-hour ago, and you did not long after."

"Well, I never went to sleep. It takes a while for me to get _ready_ for sleep." She noted. Shikamaru looked back at her, questioning why she had said that, then realized what was different about her other than her attire. Her hair was down, still shining despite the dim lighting in the room, and all the make-up had been wiped off her face. She yawned, and followed him up the stairs. "Anyway, my father must be bothering everyone like no other at the hotel right now, probably screaming his head off." She deepened the pitch of her voice in an attempt at mocking him, _"Those boys better stay away from my innocent daughter! They better keep their filthy paws off of her!_"

"Innocent?" Shikamaru snickered, pausing in upstairs hallway as Ino made the rest of her way up the stairwell. She rolled his eyes at his comment and turned towards the door to the master bedroom.

"Good night," She said, and closed the door behind her.

Shikamaru laughed quietly to himself, and leaned against the wall beside his bedroom door. He thought about the conversation earlier that day, _Ah. Maybe I _should _get her to clean my room again… or not._ He pursed his lips at the pajama comment today, _Damnit, I knew I should have burned those things once mom brought them home from the store!_

"…Shika?"

Shikamaru looked up at Ino, mildly surprised, "What?"

Ino walked across her hall and snaked her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his for a passionate kiss. He responded quickly, hugging her waist tightly and kissing back with equal passion. Moments passed before they finally broke apart and Ino smiled up at him.

"I just wanted my goodnight kiss. Good night, now."

* * *

**What's this? Huh? What's this? K9 UPDATED…. RELATIVELY QUICKLY. …compared to the last chapter, that is.**

**Wahaha, you guys totally broke the review barrier last chapter. It received more than twenty reviews by itself! None of my other chapters have done that before! XD Yaaay…**

**All right. Time for more Ino-Shika-Cho antics for the weekend to be planned.**

**EVERYTIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING, WAYNE BRADY'S VOICE CRACKS AND HE CAN'T SING, WHICH COMPLETLEY RUINS EVERY SINGING BASED GAME ON WHOSE LINE AND EVERYONE CRIES!**

**(because the rest of them singers just aren't good enough. XD jk, jk)**

**SAVE WAYNE BRADY'S VOICE, KIDS. **

**(also, sorry if you thought the chapter was OOC.)**


	16. In The Morning

_**Day 40**_

Ino woke up mid-morning, yawning widely. She surveyed her surroundings and asked herself _Damnit, what happened to my room?_ The question loomed in her head until her brain started turning its gears up to speed and replaying her memories of the previous day, from the news of her new weekend plans to the sweet goodnight kiss before she went to bed. _That's right,_ she confirmed, _I'm staying with Shikamaru and Choji this weekend._

She crawled out of the king sized bed and over to her suitcase, then tugged off her oversized souvenir T-Shirt from the local zoo (she had never been there herself, actually. It was a shirt she had jacked from Shikamaru's room long before when she cleaned it) and replaced it with a smaller, more comfortable graphic tee with various crazy designs. Deciding, like she did every weekend morning, that she would stay in her flannel pants for the time being, she walked out the door and trudged down the stairway.

Choji had beaten her downstairs, and was fishing through Shikamaru's pantry and fridge for some good breakfast food, "Morning, Choji."

"Morning!" He said cheerfully, pulling himself out of the pantry with a box of _Aunt Jemima's Original Pancake Mix_, smiling, "Found the mix, thought I'd make pancakes for you guys today."

"Excellent." Ino smiled, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She sat on a stool at the bar-counter that separated the kitchen from the living room, watching Choji mix the ingredients together for the batter. She yawned again as Choji cracked one of the eggs and began stirring the concoction together, "What time is it?"

"Ah….. almost ten." He nodded, "I'm almost done with this. Could you go get Shikamaru? Pancakes are better fresh, and I'm almost done with these."

"…you think he'll get out of bed?"

"With the right motivation." He laughed and finished stirring, then pulled a spatula out of one of the drawers, "Whacking normally works for his mother. Just go get him, all right?"

"Sure." She nodded, sleep finally leaving her and her energy beginning to build back up. She hopped off the stool and up the stairway, to his room. She didn't bother knocking, she just flung open the door. He'd never open the door for her anyway, not this early.

"Shika-a-a," She sang, walking over to his bed and sitting on its edge, "Wake up, Shika, Choji's making pancakes and if we don't get down there fast enough he just may eat them all." A muffled grunt was heard from underneath the comforter where Shikamaru hid himself from the morning light. Ino tugged the thick blanket from his sturdy grip – a little surprisingly strong for one such lazy person in the morning – and threw it to his feet. Shikamaru cringed at the sudden light change, but still refused to wake up. She sighed and lay down beside him. "Oh, come on, please wake up? You sleep nearly all day anyway!"

"Mmm…" he grumbled. Ino smiled, glad to have gotten through to him. However, contrary to her belief, Shikamaru instead snaked both of his arms around her and hugged her body close to his, rested his head on his pillow and mumbled again, "Five more minutes."

Ino blushed and giggled lightly, raised both hands to rest on her shoulders and sighed contentedly. Five minutes couldn't hurt…

However, to her surprise, Shikamaru kept to his promise and five minutes later, he pulled himself up from his bed and crawled out to his bathroom. Ino sat up, a little drowsy once more, and furrowed her brow in confusion. She was sure one such person as lazy as him would push for more time to sleep…

She snapped out of that when she saw Shikamaru trudge back from the bathroom, then shift threw a pile of clothes laying on his dresser. He picked up a green t-shirt, sniffed it, and gave it his approval, then tugged it on and searched for a suitable pair of pants to change into. As Ino observed him in his normal morning routine, she realized something…

His hair was down. And he looked _good_ with his hair down. She had honestly never seen him without that black mass of hair pulled back in the usual ponytail that resembled he top of a pineapple, and was so _sad_ now she never had.

"Ino," he grunted to her, grabbing a rubber band off his nightstand to pull it back with, and reached his hands to the top of his head to do so, "Get up."

"No!" She shot up to her feet and grabbed his hands, pulling them away from his hair, "I like your hair that way!"

He stared down at her, eyebrows raised, and shook his head, "It's troublesome that way," and swiftly pulled it back without her consent. Shikamaru then grabbed her arm and pulled her out the doorway, "Come on, let's go get breakfast."

Ino stared at him strangely as they walked back into the kitchen, where Choji had just finished flipping the last pancake and had stacked them all onto a plate that sat beside him at the stove. He smiled at them both, turned the stove off and set the plate down on the kitchen table, "Good morning!"

"Good morning." Shikamaru said back in an uncharacteristically perky tone. Ino's jaw dropped as she watched him walk over to the fridge, back straight and his feet completely leaving the floor with each step. She began piecing the events into her head and drew up her own conclusion…

_Shikamaru's a morning person!?_

Shikamaru looked up to her and cocked an eyebrow as he poured himself a glass of orange juice, "What is it?"

"N…nothing." She blinked. _This is so unlike him! He's such a lazy ass… wouldn't he be just as useless in the morning as he is in the day? Why can't he just be like this all the time!? None of it makes sense!_

"Ino!"

"What!?" She snapped out of her thoughts and put her attention on Shikamaru.

"Do you want any orange juice?" He asked, shaking a carton of it in one hand.

"Oh, yeah… sure."

Ino watched him reach into the cabinet for another glass, set it onto the island counter and fill it with orange juice. _Well, I guess it makes _enough_ sense… he's so lazy all the rest of the day, sleeping whenever he can… I suppose there's one time in the day he's got to be at least somewhat energetic. I just never expected it to be morning…_

"Ino, come on! Stop daydreaming and sit down to breakfast." Shikamaru shouted to her from the table, where he and Choji had already sat down. She nodded and quickly joined them.

"Sleep well?" Shikamaru asked, reaching for the first pancake on the stack and picking it up with his fork.

"Yeah," Choji pursed his lips and grabbed the next one, "I had this odd dream, though. There were a bunch of cupcakes_ chasing_ me…"

"That's because you eat too much, Choji, they want their revenge." Shikamaru poured some syrup onto his pancakes, "What about you, Ino?"

Ino jumped in her seat, and looked at the two buys on either side of her. Both of them looked back expectantly, "Oh, yeah, fine."

"Are you going to _eat_ anything?"

"Yes!" She took a pancake off the center plate and took the syrup after Choji had drenched his pancakes in it. Shikamaru shook his head, not bothering to ask, and proceeded to eating his food. Ino looked over to Choji and frowned. Why wasn't _he_ surprised about this?

She shrugged and ate her food as well, _he _would_ be used to whatever Shikamaru acts like at any time, he's known him longer._

But as Ino fiddled with her food and ate slowly, Choji and Shikamaru were scarfing down the last of their meals. Choji went onto his second helping, but Shikamaru yawned, leaned one elbow onto the table…

…and fell asleep right there in his seat.

Ino sighed and took a bite,

* * *

"There you are."

Ino leaned into the doorframe of Shikamaru's bedroom door, her arms crossed and her eyebrows knitted into a frustrated glare. Shikamaru opened one eye from where he lay napping on his bed and raised his eyebrows in question. Ino sighed and stepped inside.

"While I was on the phone with Sakura, you and Choji mysteriously disappeared. I have yet to find him yet, but here I find you. I don't know why I didn't look here first." Shikamaru grunted in reply to this and closed his one open eye. Ino sighed and looked down on him, then lightly kicked the foot of his bed, "I'm bored, Shika." She whined.

"Why don't you clean my room again?" He yawned. She shrugged and obliged, knowing there was nothing better to do., and set to work. After a short, silent moment, Ino paused in the middle of gathering the dirty laundry scattered on the floor, and looked back over to his bed. A question posed itself in her mind.

"Shikamaru, why didn't you ever tell me you were a morning person?"

"A what?" He asked and opened both eyes this time to question her.

"A morning person! You were so… _energetic_ this morning compared to how I usually see you. Why is that?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. I never noticed."

"It must be because you sleep so much, that once you've woken up in the morning you just can't sleep anymore. Your body needs to exert _some_ sort of energy before it can rest any longer."

"Yeah." He agreed, hinting in the tone of his voice that he would rather be sleeping, like she said, instead of discussing this matter.

"Oh, get up." She dumped the laundry in the bathroom's hamper before walking over to his bed and tugging on his arm. She succeeded in getting him to sit up, but not to get him to stand. She sighed and plopped down beside him on the bed, then leaned her head onto his shoulder. "This laziness of yours is contagious."

He smiled triumphantly and reached an arm around her waist, hugging her to him. "My lifestyle is my choice, Ino."

"And I shouldn't mess it up." She sighed. Shikamaru leaned over and kissed her forehead.

"Thank you."

"Anyway," She looked out the window and noted the position of the sun, "It's getting late, and we haven't eaten dinner. Not to mention I don't know_ where_ Choji is or _when _he'll show up."

"Hmm… I'm not really that hungry." He snaked his other arm around her waist and hugged her tighter, then lowered his head down to hers in order for their lips to meet. She kissed him back with full force, and he tugged her down with him onto his bed…

* * *

"Hey guys!" Choji yelled into the dark house when he returned later that night, "Sorry I ran off like that! I saw a commercial on TV for this restaurant and… hey… where'd they go?" Choji scratched his head and closed the door behind him. After pulling his shoes off, he wandered into the home of his best friend, checking the entire first floor and the backyard before moving upstairs. He looked from Ino's bedroom door to that of Shikamaru's – both were closed shut. He shrugged and headed to his own room.

"Ah, it's late. They must have headed to bed already."

* * *

"Shikamaru?"

"Yeah?" He yawned, and turned his head so he could gaze into those shining blue orbs he had grown to be so fond of.

Ino snuggled deeper into his embrace and smiled, "You know, I wouldn't want you to be as energetic as you are in the morning all the time. I love your laziness."

He smirked, "Glad you see it my way."

She prodded him in the ribs with a finger, frowning, "Hey, don't think you can all high and mighty now."

"Wouldn't dare," he yawned again, rested his head beside hers and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Sure enough, the next morning Shikamaru wasn't exactly a _morning person_ anymore.

* * *

**(dances her I-can-post-quickly-now-oh-yes-I-can dance)**

**Wahaha. So I was talking with my buddy Firey (FFN account being firey171, though she has yet to really write anything yet….) the other day, and I says to her, I says "Firey, do you think Shikamaru would be a morning person or be ten thousand times more useless than usual?"**

**And she says "….dude…. he would **_**so**_** be a morning person."**

**So morning person he became! And Ino became utterly confused :D**

**Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaat was amusing.**

**EVERY TIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING, A RIDE IN DSNEYWORLD MALFUNCTIONS AND SENDS HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE TO THE DEATHS, MAKING THEIR LOVED ONES SUE THE DSNEY CORPORATION FOR THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS AND FORCE DSNEYWORLD TO CLOSE!**

**Save Dsneyworld, kids.**


	17. Graceful Entrance

_**Day 41**_

"Pass the ketchup, please."

"Mmhmm… hold on." Shikamaru squirted a little more ketchup onto his hamburger before closing the cap and passing it on, "Here." However, the moment it touched Ino's fingertips, a screech was heard outside, quickly followed by a slam and a few muffled yells. The trio (which was currently enjoying a lovely hamburger meal cooked up by Choji, and were sitting together around the dinner table to eat) exchanged confused, and somewhat frightened, glances. Shikamaru and Ino both clutched the ketchup bottle tightly.

The door suddenly busted open, and through it ran the very angered and rushed Inoichi Yamanaka. "_Where is she!? Where is my daughter!?_"

Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji merely stared at him in a mixture of surprise and fright. Ino and Shikamaru continued to clutch the ketchup bottle, while the latter held a bun in midair to top off his burger and the former clutched the tablecloth. Choji held his burger near his face, his mouth wide open to take a bit but now just gaping at the sudden visitor.

"_Ino!_" The head Yamanaka yelled, rushing over to the table and toppling over a few lamps on his way, "Are you okay? Is everything all right? _What did they do to you!?_"

"They didn't do… anything, Daddy." Ino managed to squeak. Shikamaru finally let go of the ketchup bottle and she pulled it towards her, but did nothing with it. Her grip on it and the tablecloth did not loosen. "Everything's just fine!"

"_Liar!_" He yelled, then eyed both Shikamaru and Choji carefully. They stared back at him, Shikamaru with one eyebrow raised and his eyes wide, staring right back into Inoichi's, and Choji still halfway to eating his burger. Inoichi turned his attention to Choji, "_You!_ Did _you_ cook this food?"

"Er… yes?"

"_What did you do to it!?_"

"Nothing, I promise!

"_Liar!"_ Inoichi lunged across the table and grabbed at Choji, who shrieked and dropped his burger onto his plate, nearly fell backwards in his chair, and jumped out of it, backing away as quickly as possible. Inoichi chased him out of the kitchen.

Shikamaru and Ino exchanged glances and instantly read each other's minds, _He's lost it._

"Oi, Ino, what is your father doing?" Shikato groaned, lugging his and Yoshino's bags into the living room. He dropped them by the stairway before collapsing onto the couch and sighing, "Chasing the poor boy out of the house and down the street. If anything, he should be more worried about Shikamaru, here."

The mentioned harrumphed and took a bite out of his burger. Ino giggled and finally added the ketchup to her own burger.

"Ino, you better hurry and toss your things into the car. Your father's already gone mad and I want him away from these poor boys before any damage occurs," her mother partly whined as she entered the house and leaned against a chair. Ino groaned and shook her head.

"At least let me eat!"

"Eat in the car! I swear, it's like he wants to murder poor Choji out there!" Mrs. Yamanaka poked her head out the door to check that the Akimichi was still in one piece: his parents were currently yelling at Inoichi to calm down and stop, to let their son go, and Yoshino had joined then, adding in something about embarrassing her family in front of the neighbors (who were, indeed, staring out their windows in utter amazement). Ino mumbled something incomprehensive under her breath and stepped out of her chair, then ran upstairs to pack her things; her mother followed her to help.

"So," Shikato spoke when the two female Yamanakas were gone, "What _did_ you do this weekend?"

"…stuff." Shikamaru mumbled. He took another bite out of his burger.

"What _stuff?_" Shikato stressed, looking at his son from the couch. Shikamaru harrumphed again, not speaking due to a mouthful of meat, bread, lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes. After swallowing, he realized that his father had not removed his eyes from him. He sighed and answered.

"Nothing like _that_. Just… watched TV. Ate Choji's cooking. Ino cleaned my room again, too."

Shikato watched him for a moment, not believing, but shrugged and looked back to the ceiling and closed his eyes. Moments later, more screaming was heard as a very angry Yoshino Nara dragged Inoichi inside by the ear.

"…and don't think you're _ever_ allowed near this house without your _wife_ holding you by a _leash!_ Desecrating my family like that… running mad in front of my house! _See if I every allow you over here again!_"

The Akimichis followed suit behind them, staying clear of the angry Nara woman. Choji ran back over to the table and sat down, finally allowed to munch on his dinner. He was safe, for the time being, and he immediately dug into his meal. Moments later, Ino and her mother appeared from the upper floor with Ino's suitcase, carefully packed and zipped shut. They lugged it down the stairway together and tossed it at Inoichi for him to carry out the door and to the car. Ino walked back into the kitchen and sat back at the table.

"Ugh, could he have made a more graceful entrance?" She sighed, also eating her dinner meal. "Choji, are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine, as long as I keep my distance." He squeezed his eyes shut thinking it over, wishing he suffered from short-term memory loss. "I understand now why your dad is so high-ranked in the army."

"Yeah, well…" Ino didn't finish her sentence, just bit her hamburger angrily.

After a moment's argument between a few older ladies and one such rampant Yamanaka man, Inoichi was tossed outside to move all the luggage into the Yamanaka family car, while the missus and daughter sat inside and relaxed with the normal folk. He wasn't happy about it, however, and shot one incredibly dangerous looking glare towards Choji and Shikamaru, who both nearly squeaked in fright and froze in their seats, remaining in that position until Inoichi disappeared from sight.

"Did you kids have a good weekend?" Mrs. Akimichi asked sweetly. The three nodded in reply, trying to scarf down their food before Mr. Yamanaka returned.

"I hope you didn't just loaf around all weekend Shikamaru," Yoshino grumbled, eyeing him, "Lord knows you would actually do anything _pleasant_ as a host to your two visitors."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and mumbled a quick few words before taking another large bite from his burger, "No, mom."

"Hmmm." Yoshino mumbled again, keeping her words unvoiced but still watching him. Shikamaru just shook his head.

"I'm done!" Choji announced, holding up a clean plate to be approved, "When are we leaving, Dad?"

"Slow down, what's the hurry!?"

"_I want to get away from the crazy man!"_

"Oh please, he's fine now. Just… don't go outside. You're better off waiting for me to leave first." Ino mumbled through a mouthful of burger before swallowing, "I'm done too!"

"Great! Let's leave!" Mrs. Yamanaka pointed out the door in a hurry, "Before your father comes back in and tries to murder someone, hurry!"

Ino nodded and stood from the chair, grabbing her plate, silverware, and glass to wash off in the sink and load into the dishwasher. However, Shikamaru grabbed her arm and shook his head.

"Leave it, I'll take care of it."

Ino paused and looked at him, confused, "Really?"

"Yes really, with your dad out there ready to kill me? Get out of here, woman!"

"Right!" She hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek (the three mothers could be heard 'aww'ing in the background), "Thank you for letting me stay, Shika!"

And she and her mother were out of the door in the blink of an eye, before Shikamaru could even tell her about how much of a pleasure it was to have her there.

* * *

**Short chapter this time guys, sorry. It's just that I wanted to get this mini-plot wrapped up and finished so I could get started on the next one, and this was the only thing I came up with. Excuse the crappiness.**

**I've already got the next part planned out (mostly). Hopefully the next chapter won't take TOO long to come up.**

**(haha, guess I spoke too soon about quick updates, huh?)**

**I'm also working on another one-shot (finally!) so stay tunned.**

**REMEMBER, EVERY TIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING, I GET A RANDOM POWER OUTAGE AND MY TV GETS BUSTED AND DOESN'T WORK!**

**Save my TV, folks.**

**(lawlz, that really happened)**


	18. Unusual

_**Day 49**_

Ino walked into school as usual that morning, hand in hand with Shikamaru (who had the usual lazy gaze and walk… it was, of course, too early to be awake). She had eaten the usual breakfast: a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice. She was wearing some usual clothes and felt her usual self. Shikamaru held onto her hand with the usual protective grip, and her heart felt the usual lightness that came with being in love.

However, as she walked in and saw her usual group of friends, it seemed to be a rather _un_usual day.

Sakura and Naruto were screaming their heads off about something, and not in the childish, arguing way they usually did (_It just goes to show you how perfect they are for each other_, she had usually thought, _they're so childish!_). Kiba was barking loud about it too, clearly as angry as they were, with Hinata standing shyly behind him and nodding her head quickly in agreement to most things they said. A few paces away, Neji and Tenten were also frustrated, but communicating it with other seniors, and doing so more rationally.

Ino and Shikamaru exchanged confused glances, and decided it would be safest to approach Neji and Tenten first. However, when doing so, the male Hyuuga waved them off and told them to talk to Naruto, who had the full story, and to leave him alone. Growing frustrated themselves, the couple backtracked a few steps to where Sakura and Naruto's yells were finally understandable.

"I CAN'T _BELIEVE_ THAT BASTARD!"

"Naruto, I know it's annoying, but people have different paths!"

"_LEAVE_ KONOHA LIKE THAT!? HE'S GOING TO _PAY!_ _BIG TIME!_"

"Hey, hey!" Shikamaru waved his hands and groaned, "Keep it down? My ears feel like they may bleed."

Naruto growled and looked away, and Sakura sighed and patted his shoulder, "Just a frustrating start to the day."

"What's going on? Dish, please." Ino commanded.

Sakura sighed, "Rumor has it that Sasuke's transferring schools."

"_What!?_"

"Yeah, to Oto Academy."

"So it's true he's been hanging with that crowd?"

"Supposedly." Sakura turned her full attention to Shikamaru, "You know how he's trying to beat his brother, right?"

"Yeah."

"Wait, _what?_" Ino shook her hands in confusion, "Sasuke has a brother?"

"Uchiha Itachi," Shikamaru explained, "He applied and got into AAP after graduating from Konoha Middle School. Sasuke hasn't lived it down ever since, and he's determined to reach as far as his brother has."

"What's AAP?"

"_Akatsuki Acceleration Program._" Sakura added, "It's an extremely exclusive program that allows students of a certain caliber to skip their remaining grade levels and spend two years doing acceleration work to prepare for college ahead of time. Those who apply really _aren't supposed to_ until sophomore year, but Itachi managed it after eighth grade."

"Wow."

"Apparently, Oto has a similar program, or _something_ for juniors, and Sasuke's determined to go through with it," Naruto growled, "There are five students temporarily transferred here from Oto to watch him and judge his… worthiness, or something."

"We were thinking we'd all watch _them_ watch _him_, and see if we can keep our star pupil in this school." Sakura nodded, "He's one person we don't want to lose."

Naruto and Shikamaru both harrumphed, one because of a supreme rivalry, the other because he had already bested him in one extremely important scholarly field.

"Do you know who they are?" Ino asked.

"Yeah," Sakura fished a list out of her pocket, along with some photos, "Sasuke may be tight with Oto's principal, but I'm tight with ours. Principal Tsunade gave me all the information." She flipped through them, continuing, "Naruto and I will handle Kimimaro. Kiba and Hinata will be watching Ukon. Neji and Tenten will take care of Kidoumaru, and I think Choji said he'd watch Jiroubou." She handed a picture and paper to Shikamaru and Ino, "That leaves you Tayuya."

A pink-haired female stared back at them blankly from her picture. She wasn't very flattering by her looks, Ino thought, not much for her to work with. A hat fit snugly on top of her head.

Shikamaru scanned over the paper and sighed, "Lovely, a flute player. We get the band nerd."

(**A/N: BAND NERDS RULE!**)

He looked over everyone standing before him, "Remind me why I should care what Uchiha does with his life?"

"Because he's a star football player, second in the class, and junior class president. He does a lot. We don't want to lose him."

Naruto mumbled a few words of anger in Sakura's general direction, mostly lingering on the subject of a certain chicken-ass-haired bastard about to betray his school. Sakura merely punched him before smiling sweetly to Shikamaru and Ino.

"Just keep an eye on here, I'm sure it won't be much trouble."

Oh, trouble it would be

* * *

Shikamaru continued to read on about their new subject, Tayuya, as he and Ino walked down the halls later that day to their fourth period Web Mastering Class. He had one arm draped protectively around her shoulders while he used the other hand to hold the paper to his face. Ino was looking around for the '_Sound Five_' (as they had been so rightly named just recently by the search party), trying to decipher faces from one another throughout the crowd. So far, efforts had been futile and there was no sign of the pink-haired flutist, but they were determined to catch sight of her by the end of the day.

"Ah, here we go. This will help."

"What?" Ino snapped her head around to look questionably at his face.

He used his thumb and index finger to separate to pages apart from each other in his hands, "They were stuck together. Seems that Sakura gave us Tayuya's schedule, too."

"What is it, then?"

"First period band, obviously, it's marching season," he mentioned, "But the good thing here is that she's got web mastering with us this period."

"All right! We can go meet her now!"

"Great," he groaned, "I get to lose my nap time and watch a band nerd all period."

"You don't _always_ sleep."

"…shut up." He shoved her through the door to their last class of the day as she laughed about his last-minute remark, apparently too lazy to come up with anything witty. However, in the midst of laughing so hard she accidentally bumped into someone on her way in, receiving a loud 'oomph!' on both ends.

"Watch where you're going, will you!?"

"Oh, sorry! Ah…" Ino paused as she found herself looking into the face of the pink-haired flutists Tayuya, whose face was scrunched together in a mad glare. She dusted the sleeves of her white sweater and straightened out the bottom of it, then pulled down on her beanie. Apparently, no teachers had gotten on to her about the 'no hats' rule yet.

"Ah, are you Tayuya?" Shikamaru asked as Ino straightened her own clothes out as well. The mentioned grumbled and squinted at him.

"Maybe. Who wants to know?"

"Nara Shikamaru," he held a hand in gesture to himself, and then to Ino, "and this is my girlfriend, Yamanaka Ino." Ino managed a smile even though she had already grown to hate the grumpy flutist.

Tayuya surveyed them for a quick moment and nodded, "Yes, I am Tayuya from Oto Academy."

Shikamaru nodded, "We've heard the rumor often enough today. How's Sasuke looking to you guys?"

The pink-haired girl shrugged and looked to the side, "I haven't seen him yet today," She said, "I was supposed to have third period with him, but something screwed up with my schedule. They're fixing it tomorrow."

Tayuya remained silent for a while, leaving Ino and Shikamaru to stand there awkwardly with her as students filed in for class. Ino nudged Shikamaru and mouthed to him '_Talk to her! We have to keep an eye on her, remember?_' In return, he glanced at her with a face that said, '_What do you want me to do!?_'. She sighed angrily and shoved him from behind, causing him to take an involuntary step forward and accidentally bump his arm into Tayuya's. The pink-haired flutist glanced back at him with an annoyed glare.

"So… Err… Tayuya." He began, and glared at Ino sideways, "I suppose you… uh… are keeping up with your classes fine?" Shikamaru asked, scratching the back of his head nervously. Tayuya only made a small grunt in reply. The pineapple-headed boy shot his head back over to look at Ino, eyes slit thin, telling her that it was her turn now. But before Ino could speak herself, their conversationalist began her answer.

"They've stuck me in my worst class. History, have it third period." She rolled her eyes, groaning, "Hate it. But I'll be out of it tomorrow if they fix my schedule."

"Well, that's good." Shikamaru and Ino both nodded, wondering how to droll this out any longer before class began. What they were actually supposed to be doing with her was not something the knew of, but they _did_ know Sakura and Naruto would pummel them if they didn't have something to say about the girl when they met up after class.

"Yeah, I suppose." Tayuya locked her eyes onto Shikamaru, "I have work to do after all."

"Class!" Asuma roared a split second after the tardy bell rang throughout the halls, "Sit down in your seats so I can take roll!" As Shikamaru and Ino scampered off to their seats, their teacher nodded to the one person left standing, "Ah, you must be the transfer, Tayuya? We have an empty seat here." He pointed to a computer on the edge of a row in the back. "You'll need help getting caught up. Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru, who was already nearly asleep, lifted his head from his arms and looked up at Asuma, dreading his next words. Ino laughed across the room.

"You're smart, help Tayuya."

"But-"

"Do it!" Shikamaru groaned and stashed his pillow behind his backpack underneath the table, then kicked off the floor and rolled across the room to Tayuya's station in his rolling chair. Tayuya paid him little attention. Ino, on the other hand, felt more jealous of her every moment.

"Assignment's on the board, get cracking!"

* * *

_**Day 50**_

"There she is." Shikamaru mumbled to Ino as Tayuya walked into Web Mastering that morning. He leaned onto the table beside Ino where she sat atop it while fumbling with a few strands of his hair.

"How was class with her yesterday, by the way? I never asked."

"She was quiet. And didn't really look me in the eye a lot. Kind of just stared at the computer hard the whole time."

"Yeah?" She let go of his ponytail and hugged his shoulders from behind. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. You must have been awfully tired," she teased.

"Mmph." He mumbled, looking away. Ino laughed and waved down Tayuya, motioning for her to come over to them. The flutist did so, but hesitantly, with a raised eyebrow. Ino smiled warmly at her, despite the fact that she disliked her hateful attitude.

"Did you get your schedule taken care of?"

Tayuya paused, then shook her head, "No."

"That's too bad." Shikamaru mumbled grumpily.

"Yeah, well, they didn't fix it right."

"What? So they _did_ fix it? What was wrong?" Ino asked, intrigued.

Tayuya disregarded Ino, looking only to the Nara boy whose head was turned away and not even noticing her, "I didn't take the schedule change because they would have taken me out of this class."

* * *

**Ooooh! Drama? Yes. Wahahaha.**

**I don't know how long this on will last. But time wise… I think they're in early November? I checked my calendar and counted days to see approximately when it is now, but I forgot it XDDD.**

**Yes, I'd like to confirm JUST IN CASE that these new kids mentioned in this chapter are indeed the Sound Five from the series, just all… high-school-ified. You know, thought I'd clarify just in case. XD Tayuya's the only girl, too. I just realized that. Lawl. I probably should've made it six and did something about Ukon **_**and**_** Sakon, with some twin dealie, but the story isn't about them so OH WELL.**

**REMEMBER, EVERY TIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING THE SASQUATCH FREEZES UP IN THE ARTIC CIRCLE AND TURNS TO ICE, AND THEN PEOPLE COME AND CHOP OFF HIS FEET!**

**Save the Sasquatch, kids.**


	19. Class A Problem

_**Day 50**_

"I didn't take the schedule change because they would've taken me out of this class."

Shikamaru and Ino gaped at her, surprised and confused. "Ah… but Tayuya," Ino began, "What about you mission with Oto? What about getting out of history?"

"And," Shikamaru narrowed his glance at the girl, who was only staring back at him with an unreadable expression, "You would have been in this class then, anyway. Sasuke has third period Web Mastering."

She smirked, "You really do know everything."

"It's not that hard, once you figure out how scheduling works."

"Yes, well... Ukon has that class with him, he can take care of it. And I'll catch him before and after school."

Ino finally recognized the look of longing developing on Tayuya's face, and immediately wrapped her arms tighter around Shikamaru. He turned his head and looked at her, concerned, but she just shook her head. "And your history class?"

"I'll deal with it."

Ino frowned and nodded, looking away from Tayuya. Shikamaru sighed and crossed his arms, apparently wishing that she would not act this way. They both jumped at least five inches when they felt a hard rapping on the back of their heads.

Asuma stood behind them, the smell of smoke lingering on his breath. Ino concluded that he had snuck a smoke during passing period. "You know that ringing sound you hear from the ceiling at the beginning of class?"

"Yes?" Ino and Shikamaru both blinked.

"Did you not _hear_ it? _Get in your seats!"_

"Yes, sorry Asuma-sensei!" Ino let go of Shikamaru immediately, hopped off the table and into her chair. Shikamaru darted across the room to his chair, as he only moves quickly when at the beckon of his mentor. Asuma grunted at them before turning and running straight into Tayuya, "You too!"

Tayuya only stared across the room a moment longer before slowly turning and striding away to her desk.

Asuma sighed, muttered something under his smelly breath about kids who don't follow rules, and returned to his desk. "Lesson's on the board, kids. You know what to do." He tipped his head back over the back of his chair and propped his feet onto his desk, linked his hands together and rested them onto his chest.

"Asuma-sensei."

He had barely enjoyed a minute's rest before Tayuya had spoken.

"What is it?" He yawned, lifting his head and trying not to have to move much more than that.

"I still need help."

"…really? You do?" Asuma scratched his head, surprised. Web Mastering was such a simple class, that any new student should be able to pick up the curriculum almost instantly, "All right, then… Shikamaru!"

This time, Shikamaru brought his pillow with him when he pushed himself across the room.

_**Day 57**_

Ino was getting frustrated.

It had been a week now, and yet still Tayuya insisted on receiving help all throughout class from Shikamaru. This had become such a problem that Asuma had decided to switch Shikamaru's seat with the student that sat beside Tayuya so that he would more easily be able to work and help her at the same time (and also still play chess and fall asleep at his desk… two very important things in the Nara boy's life). When he explained the lesson to her, she didn't even seem to listen. She would just stare off into space (facing him, of course), completely miss everything he said and then ask him to repeat himself. Shikamaru would groan and do as she bade.

This lasted all period, every day.

Ino would watch the two from across the room, typing blindly away at her own assignment, completely missing the keys she should be hitting and entering gibberish onto the screen instead. She'd scowl whenever Tayuya would pose a question to Shikamaru (which was promptly every five minutes, always on schedule). Poor Shikamaru, subjected to the cruel torment of tutoring, quickly answered her every inquiry.

_Why didn't _I_ get this special treatment?_ She thought angrily to herself as she grinded her teeth together in further frustration. She completely ignored the fact that she had received homework help from over the phone on a regular basis and they walked together to every class. Now, she was just getting too fed up.

"Shikamaru?" She asked him that day on the way home. Shikamaru looked at her lazily as they came to a halt at a stoplight.

"What is it?"

Ino fidgeted in her seat, the fact that the car was not in motion, therefore giving Shikamaru time to get a good look at her as she spoke, was a little bothersome. She fumbled her thumbs together and stared out the window, "Light's green."

"Mmm," he nodded and stepped on the gas. "Now what did you _really_ want?"

The motion of the car sparked the gears in Ino's conversational confidence, and she spoke outright, "What's going on with Tayuya?"

"Wha'd'ya mean?"

"I _mean_, why? Why do you two spend so much time together in class? Why does she keep playing dumb?"

"I know it's annoying, but apparently she still really needs help in there." He shrugged, "There's nothing really I can do about it."

A moment's silence passed between them. Ino pursed her lips and shook her head, "I think she likes you."

He whipped his head around and dropped his jaw, "_What?"_

"She's like another Temari, just not speaking up. Come _on_, you _had_ to have noticed!"

Shikamaru grinded his teeth together and refocused back onto the road, "Well, I suppose."

"Shika, _please_ promise me you won't fall for any of her traps?"

They pulled up to another stop light. Shikamaru laughed and leaned over to kiss her forehead, "Of course."

_**Day 58**_

Ino sighed at the kitchen table early in the morning, picking the dry pieces out of her Eggo Waffle Cereal. Her eyelids constantly drooped over her eyes, and the time length they stayed open staggered. Thanks to a certain pink-haired flutist whose unknown motives haunted her every waking moment, she had the worst night staying asleep, and had woken up early that morning (five o'clock to be exact) without being able to will herself back to slumber. She had no choice but to go ahead and get up, get dressed, and get breakfast.

"You're up early." Her father mentioned to her an hour later, running a few fingers through his freshly washed hair and heading for the refrigerator for breakfast, "Nara doesn't pick you up for another… hour, right?"

"Uh huh." Ino mumbled. She finished fishing out all the dry pieces of cereal and munching down on them, then started mashing the rest into the milk sea below.

"Do you… need to go to school early today? For tutorials?"

A bell rang in Ino's head. Tayuya was in band, right? And the band had early rehearsal, right, because of marching season? So if she went now, she could catch her, right?

_Or maybe she'll already be in rehearsal,_ she thought to herself, as a negative to the situation always tended to pop up these days. Regardless, she had nothing better to do.

"Yeah, take me to school." Ino nodded, and began to stuff her face with breakfast, "I'll be ready in a flash!"

_Shikamaru was _too_ happy when I told him I already had a ride today…_ Ino bit her lip as she walked into school that morning. The usual crowd had yet to form, as it was only just past seven and the only people at school (aside from the band practicing on the field) were those kids who hate riding the bus so much that they hitch a ride with their parents on their way to work so early in the morning, then fall asleep waiting for the bell. The smell of donuts and toast spread throughout the air as the cafeteria prepared for the breakfast shift (some kids were even too lazy to eat at home!).

Ino tossed her bag in to the corner where she and the others usually sat before school. _No one will steal it this early in the morning_, she thought again, then spun 180 degrees and marched off towards the fine arts wing of the school, thoughts of Shikamaru beginning to surface again.

_He was probably just happy to get another fifteen minutes of sleep…_ she compromised, and nodded,_ that's right. That lazy boy was just happy to sleep some more._

As she reached to open the large, green metal door, it swung open and a tuba player rushed madly out, nearly running Ino over. She watched him run away in horror as he turned around an shouted, "_Watch where you're going!_" She blinked, shook her head and calmed herself down before resuming her walk down the wing and towards the band hall.

A quick peek though the glass of the door told her everything she needed to know. "Tayuya is already in rehearsal." She mumbled, angry, then leaned against the door and slid to the ground. She sat pouting there for a good few minutes before she heard a melodic string of notes playing from a few doors down.

Curious, Ino scrambled to her feet and ran down to the source of the music: a door that lead to another, smaller hall that had only a few doors reaching to small practice rooms. She tiptoed into the hall (though with carpet, there's no use to high the sound of footsteps), and quietly shut the door behind her. She leaned her body against the wall and crept down the hall until she reached the very last door, where the melody had originated from. She turned and just barely peered inside, doing her best to remain as invisible as she could.

The melody stopped. A mumbling was heard through the door, and Ino quickly pressed her ear to the door to eavesdrop.

"Beautiful as always, Tayuya," complimented a voice Ino didn't recognize. She was all too tempted to look through the window at who was there, but knew it would blow her cover.

"….thanks." She grumbled in reply. A brief silence was heard: Ino assumed Tayuya was shifting through music or fixing her flute.

"So, anyway, old man Orochi is getting antsy. Any news on your side of the hunt?"

"…no."

"_Tayuya!_" He groaned and kicked the wall, "Damnit, don't tell me you're letting that… _guy_ get in the way of your _job!_"

"Shut the _crap_ up, Kidoumaru! I'll do as I damn well please!"

Ino's jaw dropped. Tayuya had always seemed to be such a quiet, shy girl in class, and now all of a sudden she was… a _bitch?_ Ino groaned inwardly, _Not another Temari!_

"Tayuya, you realize the sooner we take care of Sasuke, the sooner you can get back to Oto and practice with the band again?"

Tayuya didn't respond, just instead started blowing out angry notes on her flute. Kidoumaru growled. "Fine, I'll just leave now!"

With those words, Ino hurried and jumped to her feet, then sped out of the practice room area and out the fine arts wing before Kidoumaru could catch her. _Now I know why she isn't out with the rest of the band_, she thought.

She reached her backpack and slumped to the ground, biting her lip. _But now I'm _positive_ she likes Shikamaru… and I know he isn't going to do anything to fend her off!_ She sighed and shook her head, resting it in her hands, _What am I going to do?_

**HOLY CRAP GUYS I AM SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!!!!!**

**is shot**

**I went through massive writer's block. I'll have to be bringing this story to a close real soon. Not next two chapters soon, but soon.**

**EVERY TIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING YOU EXPLODE.**

**Ha, not so easy when its you in trouble, eh?**


	20. Running the Track

_**Day 58 cont.**_

_I hate this…_ Ino sighed as she walked to Chemistry that morning. She'd completely lost Shikamaru in the crowd, so therefore failed to join him on his way to class. _I hate not being able to trust him completely right now. _She shook her head and stared viciously ahead, clenching a fist before her, _No! I know he'll stay mine through this, Shikamaru would never fall for suck a cheap fake!_

But as she turned the corner into the science hallway, she froze instantaneously. Someone behind her ran into, shouted a few curse words and walked around, but she didn't comprehend. She could only gape at the scene before her: Shikamaru and Tayuya standing casually in the hall. Tayuya leaned her back against the lockers, legs clad in tight jeans and glued together. Her white sweater hung loosely from her shoulders, and she clutched her books tightly to her chest. The perfect shy cover for a bitchy teen. Shikamaru stood next to her, supporting himself with one arm against the lockers, almost as if he were guarding her from potential suitors around them.

He was laughing.

_Or maybe not.

* * *

_

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Ino grumbled. She attempted to bury her head further into her arms. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow as he scribbled notes onto his lab data page.

"Doesn't sound like nothing."

"Well it is."

"Well if its nothing, you should be helping with the lab, shouldn't you?"

"No."

"You know, I'm sure Temari would be more than happy to take your place as my lab partner. You can go work with Shino."

Ino instantly sat up and grabbed the lab instructions, then proceeded to fill a test tube with water. A few minutes of classroom silence passed; only the scribbling of pencils, chatter of other kids, and breaking of glass heard around them. "…I saw you with her."

"Excuse me?" He paused, a lit match in hand.

"Talking and laughing with Tayuya before class."

"Ino, I think you got the wrong idea-"

"What other idea is there to _get_, Shikamaru?" She slammed her fists against the lab table, causing Shikamaru to jump on his stool. A tear escaped her eye, "You were so casual with her. I told you she was up to something, you can't just get all _cozy_ with people who like you like, that, Shikamaru! _You have a girlfriend! Me!_"

"There's nothing to worry about Ino! Please, calm down." He looked around the classroom. Everyone was staring. Temari laughed silently in the corner.

She shook her head violently and looked away, not saying another word. There was nothing she could say: she knew he would deny anything she threw at him, because she was _overreacting. _But how can you _not_ overreact when you can't seem to even trust your boyfriend?"

"Ino…" He reached his free hand over to her and lightly touched her shoulder. She shook her body and slapped his hand away.

The next few moments all happened too fast. Shikamaru was thrown off balance, and nearly fell off his stool. In the process he dropped the match, its flickering orange flame grazing over his fingers before spiraling to the ground before. Before Ino knew it, he was suppressing screams of agony and white tile was being turned black as the orange flames licked at it and burned away all of its shine.

"Shit! Shit!" Shikamaru grinded his teeth together and shut his eyes tight, clenching his right hand to his stomach in pain. Iruka bolted for the fire extinguisher, shoved all the students aside and immediately engulfed the lit tiles in a cloud of white chemicals.

"Shikamaru! Are you okay?" Iruka asked abruptly once he prevented the fire from spreading.

Shikamaru opened one eye and looked at his fingers, now blackened from the contact with the fire, "Yeah, I think-" He grinded his teeth together in pain again, unable to finish his sentence.

"Ino, hurry and take him to the nurse."

Ino looked from Iruka to Shikamaru, biting her nails. Had she really injured him just now? Hadn't this all been her fault? Then why wasn't anyone _scolding her?_

"Now!"

Shikamaru was up and out the door before she was, and she had to jump from her seat, run, and catch up.

* * *

"There you are," Nurse Shizune finished wrapping the bandages around Shikamaru's two fingers that had been burnt in the previous accident. She had applied some burn medication, which caused the injury to hurt even more, and as soon as she removed her hands Shikamaru began shaking his hand rapidly to ease the pain.

"Are you all right?" Ino asked quietly from the cot across from him. Shikamaru continued shaking his hand and tried squeezing his fingers with his uninjured hand.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Nothing that can't be healed." He said almost nonchalantly.

Ino watched him continue to shake hand squeeze his hand for a few minutes, until his pain finally seemed to cease and the rapid motions became less frequent, now only an occasional squeeze and a nervous twitch.

"We should probably be heading back to class now," he said. "We still have to finish the lab, and we only got about forty-five minutes." He stood up, still shaking his hand a little, mumbling under his breath about how he would be able to take notes now that his writing hand was injured. A single tear slid from Ino's eye, enough to cause a shine on her face that caught Shikamaru's glance, "What's wrong?"

Another tear slid and she squeaked softly, "I'm… a terrible girlfriend."

"What? Ino, no, you didn't do-"

She sobbed, a flood of tears now swimming down her face, "I'm a terrible girlfriend! I made you drop that match and burn yourself!"

"No, Ino, I shouldn't have-"

But Ino didn't listen. She was sobbing uncontrollably now, and she ran out of the nurse's office, down the main hallway, and out of sight. Shikamaru ran into the hall after her, but couldn't catch her in time before she bolted out the exit.

"Wait…" he paused, and looked behind him, "Class is this way…"

* * *

Ino didn't know why she was running out of the school. She didn't know why Iruka-sensei didn't give her Wednesday Night Detention for burning Shikamaru. She didn't know why Shikamaru hadn't broken up with her yet, because obviously she was unacceptable and he had a back up girlfriend anyway. She could only see the tears welling up in her eyes and the field house appearing through them.

She ran past the field house, through the gate and onto the track surrounding the football field. The drum line was practicing their drill sets on the field, while the front ensemble was buzzing away at their show music with them. The track team ran their morning laps around them, being sure to avoid the sound equipment set up on the home side of field so as to prevent the burning fury of the percussion director. Coach Gai stood by the goal post closest to the field house, a stop watch in hand.

As if on cue, seconds after Ino arrived on the track, a green streak of light flashed by her, down the track and towards Gai. She blinked, and saw Lee slowing to a stop at the goal post before hunching over and breathing hard.

"Great time again, Lee! The rest of the team probably won't be here for another ten minutes. Go ahead and hit the showers."

"Yes, Gai-sensei!" Lee saluted quite proudly and grabbed his drawstring bag off the ground, which most likely held his change of clothes. As he turned toward the field house however, he noticed Ino, and waved strongly.

"Why hello! What brings you to the track at this hour?"

"What brings _you_?" She asked back, avoiding his question. Lee laughed.

"I'm on the cross country team, of course!"

Sakura's words from months earlier rang in her ear. '_He's the fastest in the country, they say.'_ She nodded and accepted his answer. A moment's silence passed between them before he spoke again.

"Your eyes are red and your cheeks are wet. Why have you been crying, Ino?" Ino looked off to the side and cringed slightly. Lee looked on to her sympathetically, then placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her towards the football benches a few feet away, "Here, come sit down with me for a moment."

Ino nodded and obliged; despite the fact she held no respect for Rock Lee, she knew he was a kindhearted person who always knew how to cheer someone up. Sakura had told her of numerous times when he had said merely a few words that lifted her spirits back when she still chased after Sasuke, and the cold Uchiha repetitively ignored her.

"Now tell me," he said with a small grunt as he sat down next to her on the bench. He set his clothes bag beside him and gave her his full attention, "What is wrong?"

Ino wiped away a tear and sniffed, "I don't think I can trust..." she hesitated on Shikamaru's name. It was too hard to mention him, as she was only filled with uncomfortable thoughts about the day so far, "_him_ anymore."

"You mean Sh-"

"Don't say his name."

"…right. Your boyfriend."

"Yes." The title placed on Shikamaru did not ease it anymore, but she decided it was best not to argue, "And I got so mad today I accidentally burned him with his match. I feel _terrible,_ and I'm such a bad girlfriend! I'm sure he doesn't want anything to do with me anymore?"

"Why can't you trust him?"

She snarled and spat the name out as a child would spit out her cold medicine, "_Tayuya."_

"Ah, I've seen her before. She's part of the Sound Five you and the others are after, right?"

"Right."

"I've been watching over Kimimaro for Naruto as of late, for he decided to chase after Sasuke now. He's trying his best to persuade him not to leave."

"I'm not surprised."

"Tayuya's the only girl in this group. I suppose being around boys so much has affected her in a negative way."

"Uh huh." Ino grunted.

"Ino, do you remember the advice I gave you that one day in volleyball, the day before your birthday?" Ino lifted her head to look at him, and ran her mind back about forty-eight days.

"_You must never take your eyes off that ball, even for an instant, or __everything__ could end for you. Protect your side of the net like a soldier would protect his country."_

"Never take your eyes off of him, or you'll be ripped apart. Protect your relationship with him, for it is more valuable than anything. You can't so easily assume that he has lost interest in you, you must keep holding on to him and never let go. Believe me, Ino, you two make a beautiful couple. I'm positive that Shikamaru still loves you."

Ino let out a small laugh, couple with another tear, "I'm so stupid. Of course I would jump to conclusions like this."

"And also, you've already driven Temari away, and you weren't even dating Shikamaru then. I'm sure Tayuya's an easy target."

She smiled, "Thanks, Lee. I should probably run back now, I'm kind of supposed to be in class right now."

"Ha! Probably!" Lee let out a hearty laugh and patted Ino's back before he grabbed his bag and rose from the bench, ready to head to the locker rooms in the field house, "You'll be fine, Ino. I'll see you later today!"

She stood up and smiled, "Thanks again!"

* * *

Ino looked both ways before carefully stepping foot back through the school entrance and making her way back to class. She didn't have a pass on her, Iruka, in a hurry, had only written one nurse pass, and Shikamaru was the one with it. She had to be careful not to run into any teachers. Though, really, the teachers here never even _checked_ for passes, but it was always best to be safe.

As she passed the fine arts wing, she saw Tayuya stepping out the large, green metal door, shifting her backpack on her shoulders. Ino stopped and gave her a menacing look.

Tayuya looked up and raised an eyebrow, "What?" She spat.

"Tell me," Ino crossed her arms, "Why is it you fake nice around Shikamaru all the time?"

Tayuya blinked and looked off to the side, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't kid me, I heard you talking to Kidoumaru this morning before school in that practice room. You're a _bitch!_"

"I can do whatever the hell I want, and act however I damn well please." Tayuya scowled, "I don't need your permission."

"I _know_ you like him, Tayuya, and you may as well give up! _I'm_ his girlfriend, all right? Lay off him!"

"All's fair in love and war." She said simply.

"He'll never like you. You're just a nuisance to him, always taking up his time with your fake ignorance."

"Whatever I need in order to spend time with him." Tayuya smirked, "You never know what could happen."

"_I_ know."

"_Ino!_"

Ino whipped her head around to spot Shikamaru running up behind her. He waved his injured hand and caught up.

"Jeez, I've been looking all over for you! I can't return to class without you there with me, Iruka-sensei would get pissed!"

"Sorry," Ino laughed, "Let's go now."

"Wait, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru turned his head towards the pink-haired flutist, "What?"

"I… need you to tutor me in History. Please?"

"Just go to tutorials in the morning."

"I don't have the time." Tayuya twiddled her thumbs and looked at her feet.

_Bullshit!_ Ino yelled in her head, and immediately latched on to Shikamaru's arm, _she was just practicing at 7AM this morning!_

"Go after school."

"My teacher isn't here after school."

"Don't you have Kurenai for that? She's here after everyday."

"Not today."

Shikamaru was growing irritated, "Then go tomorrow!"

"I have a test tomorrow."

Shikamaru groaned, "Fine, I'll tutor you during web mastering. See you then."

Shikamaru looked away and began walking, pulling Ino along with him. Ino looked back and scowled at Tayuya, who laughed silently in triumph.

_What a bitch_.

* * *

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	21. Starbucks

_**Day 58 cont.**_

After Web Mastering that day, Ino grabbed Shikamaru and walked with him out of class before Tayuya could snatch him up in another one of her 'tutoring' schemes. They walked straight past his locker, which he didn't even bother to grab his pillow from anymore since Tayuya easily kept him busy all through class. Shikamaru stopped her before they reached the main hallway, and they stood there in the corner of the Technology Hall, one of the most secluded and least crowded areas of the entire school.

"Hey…" he scratched the back of his head and sighed, "Bad news, I can't _exactly_ give you a ride home today."

"What?" Ino's jaw dropped, "Why not?"

"I have to tutor Tayuya today after school."

"You were supposed to do that during fourth period!"

"She kept me too busy all period helping her with just Web Mastering, that what we _did_ look at with her history homework was apparently not _suitable_ enough information to help with her test tomorrow…" he groaned, "So troublesome, really annoying."

Ino slapped her face and groaned with him, "It's like I told you, Shikamaru, she's just trying to steal you from me. She likes you, Shika!"

Shikamaru bit his lip, not wanting to believe it, and sighed again, "Look, I already told her I refuse to let her in my house or to go into her house. We're going to Starbucks instead."

Ino pursed her lips, "I'm coming with you."

"Do you really want to? I mean-"

"Yes. I'm coming with you."

Shikamaru shrugged and laughed, "Your call. I certainly don't mind you there, not in the least." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her into the crowd that was migrating towards the stairway and out the main doors of the school. "Can't speak for Tayuya, though."

* * *

Tayuya was not pleased in the least. The second she walked into Starbucks, bag slung over her shoulder and looking fairly light and empty, and saw the happiest-couple-in-the-world snuggled up on the couch in the corner, her jaw immediately dropped. Ino just smirked and hung on to Shikamaru's arm tighter, who simply just sipped his Mocha Espresso as if nothing was happening. What girl glare fight?

"Erm…_ hello_ Shikamaru."

"Oh, hi Tayuya." He waved his injured hand absently from where it was resting on Ino's shoulder, and used his other to set down his cup of coffee on the table beside him. He pointed to the chair beside he and Ino, "Go ahead and sit, get out your books. I want to go _home._"

Tayuya sat down, disappointment obvious on her face as she shot a glance at Ino, who only continued to smile smugly. Ino could get in her face all she wanted right now, because she knew Tayuya wouldn't _dare_ break her cover in front of Shikamaru. It just wouldn't happen.

"You know Shikamaru," Ino began as Tayuya pulled out her history notes and textbook, "I think it's going to be very interesting watching you tutor her in a class that you haven't even taken yet."

"Yeah," he nodded and shifted in his seat, "I planned for this. I'm not the one doing most of the tutoring today."

Tayuya froze in seat momentarily and slowly looked up at Shikamaru, questioning. He looked at her, disinterested, and migrated his eyes to the door before nodding, "There he is."

Ino had to slap a hand to her face to stop the laughter when she saw who Shikamaru had assigned to Tayuya to take care of this task. It's not that she didn't like the boy, no not at all. He may be a little weird, but it was Tayuya who she was laughing at. Watching her get a tutoring lesson from _Aburame Shino_ of all people would be _hilarious;_ the only time she had ever heard him talk was about bugs!

"Shino, over here." Shikamaru called across the room, and the Aburame instantly caught his eye and nodded, slowly making his way across the room before sitting in the chair on the other side of Tayuya from Shikamaru and Ino. It sent shivers up Ino's spine, seeing him outside the context of gym, the only class they had together. In gym, he wore the gym uniform, and looked like a perfectly normal kid. But in his normal suit, he wore baggy pants and a high-collared shirt that sent a Dracula-vibe through her nerves. Today he was even wearing his hoodie (with the hood up, of course). If she didn't know how big a nerd he was, she'd have thought he originated from some gang.

Which was probably _exactly_ what was going through Tayuya's mind, because the instant he sat down she scooted into the corner of her seat, forgetting that they sat in two completely different chairs, with two high armrests between them.

"Shino's not a history buff. In fact, if you ever take environmental science, be_ sure_ to contact him for help. But he _is_ in AP US history right now, and probably weeks ahead of your regular course. Perfect tutor for you."

Shino nodded again, and so did Tayuya. She gave Shino another fearful glance before looking back to Shikamaru, "But you said _you'd_ help me."

"Not much I can do if I don't know the material."

"What about during web mastering?"

"_Pssh,_ I knew you wouldn't give me time to work on that then. Besides, if you had I would have just told you to talk to someone in there who _had_ taken the class."

"But-"

"Ino, you didn't get anything to drink earlier. Want anything before we leave?"

"Actually, a White Chocolate Mocha Espresso sounds great right now. Get me a grande?"

"You got it." Shikamaru stood and walked to the counter to buy her drink. Ino turned to Tayuya and gave her the brightest, cheapest, fakest smile she could muster.

"I hope Shino is big help to you."

Tayuya scowled at her as Shino cleared his throat loudly and pointed at her notes. "What's the test over?"

"Er… World War II."

Shino instantly pulled out his own History notebook, twice the size of Tayuya's and overflowing with papers, and pulled out a half-inch thick stack over notes that he handed to her, "All my notes over World War II. Listen and follow closely because it's a lot of information and we don't have a lot of time."

As Shino began his lecture, Tayuya sent one more pleading glance to Shikamaru, who stood at the counter waiting for his drink. He shrugged at her, "Nothing I can do pal."

"Sir, your White Chocolate Mocha is ready."

"Thanks," he took the cup and walked back to the couch, extending and arm to help Ino up. She accepted, and he gracefully pulled her to her feet and handed her the drink. "Let's go, Ino." He nodded to Shino and Tayuya, "See you two tomorrow."

Shino ignored him and continued with his lecture, while Tayuya scrambled through the notes to keep up. Shikamaru and Ino left Starbucks together, laughing hard.

* * *

"Honestly, I never expected that! I thought you would pull some kind of knowledge I never knew you had to help her."

"I _definitely _don't study that much. Honestly, that girl annoys that _crap_ out of me, keeping me busy all that time with tutoring, but she's so shy I'd feel bad if I didn't."

Ino laughed hard, "She's not even that _shy!_ It's all an illusion, she only acts that way in front of you to win you over!"

"Seriously?"

"Seriously!"

"Damn." He laughed. After completely humiliating Tayuya back at Starbucks, Shikamaru and Ino had climbed into his car so he could take her home. They were laughing about the incident the whole way.

"I ran into her today during first period, and she was a total bitch to me. Heard her yelling at one of those Sound Five kids too."

"Hey, why'd you run off today, anyway? And where'd you go?"

Ino sighed. "I went to the field house. I was really upset I burnt you, and also since I saw you talking to smugly with Tayuya in the hall before class. I talked to Lee though, and he cheered me up."

"I told you, it wasn't your fault." The car came to a halt as he entered the parking lot for Ino's apartment complex and arrived at her own home. He reached an arm over to her and rubbed her shoulder, "It's my fault for dropping the match. I was too worried about you that I completely forgot I was holding it."

"But it's might fault for worrying you!"

"No, you were upset about something I had done, therefore it was _my_ fault for upsetting you. Really, Ino, you did nothing wrong."

"Then what were you talking to Tayuya about today? Why were you _laughing_?"

"Huh?" He thought back, "Oooh. That. Well, for one, she was bugging me about something in web mastering. Two, I was laughing at her for being so stupid. I told you Ino, I don't like her."

"I believe you." Ino smiled and gave him a hug before leaving the car.

He kissed her forehead before she stepped out, "And I believe you about her being a bitch. I never did quite think that she was being too honest."

"Thanks for amusing me so much at Starbucks." She laughed and grabbed her bag, "Same bad show tomorrow?"

"Same bad channel. Pick you up at the usual time, bye."

Ino couldn't help but feel a strong sense of relief and satisfaction as he drove away.

* * *

_**Day 60**_

The day after the Starbucks incident, Tayuya completely avoided Shikamaru out of sheer embarrassment, which made Ino chuckle every few minutes during web mastering whenever she looked over to see Shikamaru, finally snoozing peacefully like he was meant to during fourth period. It filled her with a sense of pride that she had proven to Tayuya the strength of the bond between she and Shikamaru.

The next day she walked into school, hand in hand with Shikamaru like she had every day since he had asked her to be his girlfriend. Ino eyed the cafeteria, "I didn't have breakfast, we ran out of food. I'm going to go in and get something, all right?"

Shikamaru shrugged and nodded, "You know where to find me."

She kissed his cheek before she ran off to the lunch line. No matter what time you got there, whether it was for breakfast or lunch, the line was _always_ long, and took at least a ten minute wait before you could get your food. Honestly, Ino didn't understand how the cafeteria thought it could run efficiently enough on such few lunch lines, but it was something she had to deal with regardless.

After the grueling ten minute wait, Ino finally got her breakfast: a sausage biscuit and hash browns with some orange juice. She smiled smugly, deciding to imitate Choji for the day and sneak of the cafeteria with her food so she could eat with Shikamaru. She made her way toward the lunch exit, making sure no teachers were around when she disappeared into the crowd with her food. However, while watching, she ran into someone unexpectedly.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going with that?"

"Ah!" Ino whipped her head around, startled. Iruka crossed his arms and looked down at her, annoyed.

"You know you can't leave the cafeteria with food! Eat it first before you go back out!"

Ino grumbled as she trekked back to an empty table. Instead of pouting entirely about her foiled plan, and how Choji got away with these things all the time (_Must be experience_, she thought), she ate her food quickly so she'd still have at least five minutes to sit with Shikamaru before the bell. She threw her trash away and ran out to meet him.

When she got out into the crowd and made her way to the usual area, she looked around fervently for Shikamaru. Seconds later, her bag fell off her shoulders and her jaw dropped.

She finally found him, lip-locked in the corner with Tayuya of Oto Academy.

* * *

**Gasp gasp! Oh noes! Cliffhanger!**

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	22. Betrayal

_**Day 60 cont.**_

Ino couldn't move. She couldn't speak. She couldn't even hear the roar of the crowd around her. Even more, she could only see the tragic sight before her: her boyfriend clasped in the hands of another woman. A woman she despised.

And thought he did, too.

A fire began to burn deep inside her, all of her pent of frustration and anger toward the could-be (and now actual) relationship between Shikamaru and Tayuya that she thought was gone for good began to build up. The fire rose through her stomach, licked at her lungs, and finally made it to her throat, where she growled and roared.

"_Shikamaru!_"

Shikamaru finally broke away from Tayuya, "No, Ino, it's not what it looks like!"

"_That's what they all say!" _She cried, on the verge of a fit of tears. She ran into the crowd and as far away from him as she could before he could see her cry. She couldn't be the vulnerable one in a situation like this, not _ever_.

She reached the end of the massive crowd at the beginning of the main hallway that led to the classrooms. The teachers didn't let anyone pass until the first bell, so she leaned against a wall and fell to her feet, finally letting herself break down and cry.

_I thought he hated her too. I thought he had promised me he wouldn't fall for her tricks. _She sniffed and let out a small sob, _I guess you just lied to me, huh Shikamaru!?_

"Is everything all right, miss?" A voice was heard above her. She slowly lifted her head and wiped her eyes, gazing up at her visitor. "How can I help?"

She only sobbed more.

* * *

That day during chemistry, Ino lucked out and didn't have to do a lab. She didn't want to deal with Shikamaru at the moment. He caught the vibe and didn't approach her, and they didn't speak at all through their first two classes. She only stared at him, eyes full of mixed feelings of sadness, anger, and disappointment.

"She looks depressed."

"Of _course_ she looks freaking depressed Naruto, her _boyfriend_ is _cheating on her!_"

"But it looks like more than just that, though! Like… I don't know the word."

"Erm… guys? Maybe you should… uh… tone it down a little."

Ino agreed with Hinata whole-heartedly, but didn't say a word. At lunch, she had decided to move from Choji and Shikamaru's table over to Hinata's (which, coincidentally, was also where Shino and Naruto sat and where Sakura sometimes sat, as she usually switched between that table and Ino's old one) to avoid confrontation with one certain lazy bastard. Now she lay her forehead on her arms, staring down at her feet while her lunch mates chatted cautiously. She didn't really feel like eating today.

"It's all right Ino. I'm sure…"

"Shhh! Don't talk about it."

Ino took a deep breath and exhaled, trying her best not to think too much about that morning. But no matter what she did, her thoughts stuck to that horrifying sight from that morning, as if it were the wallpaper of her mind. It made her draw in a sharp breath every so often, and she could barely keep suppressing the urge to cry.

"Shikamaru's no good for you anyway, Ino, I told you that already." A new voice entered the conversation, the same one from that morning. Ino looked up and saw her visitor, the one who comforted her for the first few minutes of her trauma and prepared her for the next two hours where she'd still have to look at and deal with her betrayer.

Sakura growled at the newcomer, "Sai, have you _always_ had this lunch!?"

"Yes."

Sakura drummed her fingers against the table and shook her head, "Whatever. Kindly _get out of Ino's face._ Ino, don't believe a word he says. He already tried to steal you from him once, remember?"

"It's all right." Ino mumbled. Sai smiled and laid a hand gently onto her shoulder, causing Sakura to growl with frustration.

"Ino, I thought you _hated_ him!"

"He really helped me out this morning though, Sakura. He helped me calm down."

"Shikamaru is not a trustworthy relationship partner, it's already been proven once this morning." Sai said coolly. "And before Ino came to this school he only had eyes for Temari."

"You didn't even go here then!"

"I have my sources."

"Well, obviously Shikamaru loves Ino more than Temari!"

"Not more than Tayuya, it seems."

Ino choked a sob right there. Sakura silenced herself and turned away.

"Just go away Sai."

Sai smiled mysteriously and bent down to hug Ino, "I'll talk to you later. How about I give you a ride home today instead of your usual?"

"That'd be nice."

"See you then." He smiled again and waved to the table before leaving.

Sakura scoffed, "I don't believe this."

"Sai is nothing but a load of bull, Sakura." Naruto chewed on his chicken-fried steak viciously. "I hate him, I wanna slap him in the face."

"But maybe he really does mean well? I mean, Ino seems to look up to him now."

Naruto paused, mouth wide open, "Whose side are you on, Hinata!?"

"Eep! Sorry…"

"If it counts for anything," Shino spoke up, his arms crossed and leaning on the table. He didn't even make eye contact with anyone else, but instead just stared at the table, "Tayuya didn't even seem in tune the other night when I was tutoring her. She didn't even show interest. Looked angry and revengeful the whole time."

"Like she was planning something?"

"Exactly."

Ino let out a moan of sadness, causing the entire table to fall silent. The air hung heavy around them, all knowing she was uncomfortable with discussing the situation at hand, but all wanting to think of an excuse for it themselves. It wasn't until Naruto spoke up, loud and proud, that they were able to pardon the heavy silence.

"So how about this food, eh? Continued crap!"

* * *

"Hey kids! It's Friday! Guess what _that_ means!?"

The entire gym class stared at Coach Gai lazily. No one ever responded to his enthusiasm (except for Lee, of course). As for Ino, she didn't care _what_ was so exciting about Friday, except for the fact that it was the end of the school week and she had two days ahead of her where she could mope and cry about Shikamaru without having to see him, thereby possibly getting over the whole ordeal.

"Look at you kids," Gai shook his head, disappointed, "How un-youthful of you all! I can believe how such young teens can be so lazy!"

"It sickens me, Coach Gai!"

"It sickens me too, Lee!" Gai crossed his arms, "Well, Friday means _Dodge ball!"_

"_OH! ME! I WANNA BE CAPTAIN!_"

"Good Naruto!" Gai smiled brightly and gave him a thumbs up, "Way to get in the game! Captains are Naruto and…" He scanned the room, before dramatically thrusting a hand forward and pointing at his victim, "_Shikamaru!"_

Shikamaru merely let out a lazy groan and obliged. The entire class stood up from their attendance-check spots on the ground and huddled together, as per teenage tradition where another person of close age range is within two feet of you at all times. Naruto and Shikamaru stood before them.

Naruto, instead of instantly shouting Sakura's name as he always did, glanced coldly over to Shikamaru, apparently in thought. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at him, "Go on, you pick first."

Naruto slit his eyes before turning back to the crowd, "Ino!"

Sakura and Ino exchanged surprised glances (as the rest of the class probably did too) before Ino proceeded to join Naruto's team. He and the rest of their friends must have decided that she was not to be within any close distance (probably ten, fifteen feet at a minimum) of Shikamaru until they could sort out the ordeal themselves. For her own safety, of course. As Ino took her place beside Naruto and Shikamaru was up to bat to choose a teammate, she looked over to her supposed-boyfriend. He bit his lip, eyebrows furrowed and face twisted into an expression of disappointment and regret. He probably wanted the chance of sharing a team to explain himself to Ino. She, however, did not want to hear his story though. They were all the same, anyway.

Once the teams were set, they were separated to either side of the court. Gai and Lee set the three dodge balls on the center line in a quick fashion. Naruto, as always, poised himself just over the edge of the boundary line before the game began so he could make a sprint for one of them (he was the only one who took gym class seriously, and yet he had his ass handed to him more times than most of them could count). Ino surveyed her own team: Naruto and Sakura, of course. Then a few of the other usual people, Hinata and Shino. Their team was usually built on bonds, not on whether anyone was a good player or not (Shikamaru had usually been on this team if Temari didn't snatch him up first, but due to recent circumstances he obviously wasn't.) One rather unusual person had joined them today, however. Temari stood not far away, grumbling about not being on Shikamaru's team and what not, and not wanting to be on the same team as a bunch of losers. Ino rolled her eyes at her, she was just as annoying as she ever was.

The whistle was blown, and Naruto tackled the first dodge ball in a split second, hurling it before anyone else could reach center court. Ino herself didn't move much more than half an inch, which was just to shift her legs so she wouldn't lock them and faint. She honestly didn't care if she was hit or not, and just wanted the day to be over.

She saw a flash of white before her, and before she knew it reflexes had caused her to catch a dodge ball that had been hurling for her stomach. Those few members of her team that were already out cheered, and one of them charged back into the game. She looked ahead at the opposing team. Shikamaru still stood there, not out yet but not intending to stay in much longer. His teammates whizzed around him, running too and fro trying to catch balls and throw them back.

Ino squeezed the plush ball between her hands as her anger rose once more. Shikamaru blinked at stared at her, his eyelids resting lazily on his eyeballs and his eyebrows arched only slightly, as if he were apologizing. She looked back in resentment.

She clutched the dodge ball hard, her fingers threatening to rip into the plush it was made of. She was _mad_ at him, she knew it. She wasn't going to cry about his betrayal to her anymore. She was going to do something about it.

One second later, Ino pulled one hand back, the hand the held the dodge ball. She thrust it forward with all her might, throwing it with such a force that all a spectator could see was a long blur of white from the extent of her hand to Shikamaru's stomach.

It made contact, and he had the wind literally knocked out of him. Shikamaru fell to the ground, gasping for breath."

"_Shikamaru, out!_"

Ino was growling, glaring, and anything else you could imagine that would express her anger at the moment. The entire room stared at her in disbelief (with exception to Shikamaru, who was crawling over to the wall where he could rest, and was frankly scared out of his wits), name Temari, who stood only a few feet away.

She whistled, "Damn, Ino. He must have _really_ messed up."

The rumors apparently hadn't reached the senior class yet.

* * *

Ino slumped over onto the bar, swiveling her lower half on the barstool as she stared straight ahead, angry and annoyed, at the drink machines in front of her. She wanted to avoid sitting at home, alone, at the moment since she didn't want to deal with the inflicting torture that would bring her, so she decided to follow Sai to work after school. He worked, to her surprise, at the local bar (how he got that job at his age, she didn't know). It was much different than her usual Friday afternoon, when she would usually follow Shikamaru home and chill with him there, but they weren't exactly on_ speaking terms_ at the moment.

"Here you are, one cherry limeade."

Ino didn't lift her head and instead just shifted her eyes to the side to look at the drink, "Why is there is a little umbrella in it?"

"I thought it would lift your spirits."

"But that's only for Polynesian drinks."

"So?"

Ino looked at Sai intensely before finally lifting her head and pinching the straw of her drink and stirring it. She took a small sip and exhaled. Sai smiled and leaned on the bar from the serving side, right in front of her.

"So, do you want to hear a summary of the gossip floating around school today?"

Ino groaned inwardly. She honestly had hoped Sai would be able to keep her mind off of Shikamaru this afternoon, but instead hear he went, bringing up the tragic event. It had been just fine up until now: in the car they traded stories, him about his job and her about her moving. She had gotten to look around his apartment while he prepared for work earlier, checking out all the artwork (by him, of course) lining his walls like wallpaper. She'd learned that he was living on his own here in Konoha, with his parents funding his apartment as long as he kept good grades. He had left Roots due to them thinking it was damaging his well-being, as he'd become more and more emotionally disconnected since the death of a close friend of his in a car accident. "A change of scenery would be good for him," they had said.

Ino never knew there was such a complicated and frankly sorrowful side to a boy that had once tried to break she and Shikamaru apart. Now he only wanted to help.

She sighed. Talking about it now as better than later. "Shoot."

"Well, I heard that back when Temari was new to this school, he actually had a crush on her."

Ino shot her eyes at him in mid-sip of her cherry limeade, expressing the emotion "_You freaking LIE_" as best she could. Sai sweat-dropped and continued.

"What I'm saying, is, he's had a thing for every new girl at our school."

Ino chewed on her straw while her mind refused to take any of this in. Shikamaru had loved her, she knew it. She wasn't just another new girl to him. She couldn't be.

…but he _had_ taken to Tayuya quite quickly.

"Don't you think it'll just blow over once she leaves, though?"

"I don't know, Ino." Sai shrugged and looked away, "She might transfer. Or either of them might opt for a long-distance relationship."

Ino pushed her drink aside and buried her head in her hands, "I really don't want to think about this right now."

"I know, Ino." He patted her shoulder. She looked up at him briefly, taking in the sympathetic look in his eyes, before burying her face back into her hands and trying to sustain anymore sobs. It was going to be a _terrible_ weekend.

"Sai, you wouldn't mind spending the day with me tomorrow? I don't want to be along just yet."

"No problem. We'll see a movie, my treat."

She nodded, her face still hidden by her hands. He smiled mysteriously.

* * *

**Oh Sai, you terrible person.**

**I think the award for most hilarious review goes to The Filipina Dreamer. I laughed so hard. (Doggone2dog was pretty clever with the Cookie Monster thing, too.)**

**EVERY TIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING, YOUR STORY DOESN'T GET REVIEWED.**

**HA! Try THAT on for size!**


	23. Broken

_**Day 61**_

Sai picked Ino up late Saturday morning, and the drove to the Studio Movie Grill to see _Sydney White _(Ino had been wanting to see it for _ages_ but could never get Shikamaru to take her). The split a pizza and enjoyed the movie, laughing at it all the way through and agreed that "Dopey" (there were too many names, they could never remember them all past the second they were mentioned, so they called the seven Vortex boys by their would-be dwarf names) was the most hilarious out of them all. "Happy" came in a close second, and they decided that "Doc" had been re-dubbed "Horny."

One funny movie, an eleven-inch pizza, and two milkshakes later, they walked out of the theatre, laughing and repeating their favorite moments of the movie. Sai then drove Ino down the street to the local mall, where they decided to wander until they could think of something else to do.

As they passed Hollister (where Ino was seriously thinking of using her credit card to buy an awesome new shirt on sale), Ino spotted an array of black and green out of the corner of her eye. She abruptly turned her head and looked towards the atrium twenty feet away.

"What's up?" Sai asked. Ino squinted her eyes and shrugged.

"I don't know, I thought I saw something."

"Probably nothing important." He stuffed his hands in his pockets, "Hey, there's mini golf upstairs. Wanna go check it out?"

"Uh…" Ino scanned the atrium again, "Sure…"

She was about to turn around to follow him, but finally spotted what she was searching for. A black-haired boy was standing in the middle of the atrium, looking at a map and frantically turning his head this way and that. He wore a pale green shirt and jeans, and his hair was tied back in a peculiar ponytail. He spun around, and his eyes locked with hers.

"_Ino!"_

She bit her lip, "Shikamaru?"

He ran towards her, panting and sweating. He looked troubled and sleep deprived, and odd circumstance for such a lazy bastard. "I hoped I would find you here! Why won't you return any of my calls?"

She didn't answer.

"Listen, I have to explain this to you. What happened yesterday-"

"_Shika-a-a-a!_"

Ino grimaced at the squeal from behind. The pink haired, evil, maniacal flutist waved one arm wildly from behind and she walked toward them.

"Shikamaru, I've been looking all over for you! What are we doing for our _date_ today?" She latched onto his arm, smiling sweetly at him before turning her head to smile evilly at Ino. The Yamanaka pursed her lips and held her ground.

"Date? We never-"

"Oh silly Shika, always forgetting." She sighed a fake sigh before tugging his arm, "Remember yesterday morning? After we-"

"_Shut up!"_ Ino yelled. She clenched one fist, ready for action, but Sai's hands grabbed it before she could make a move.

"Ignore them." He said softly, "They're worthless to you now."

She calmed down, nodded, and turned her back to the Nara boy. Sai was right. They _were_ worthless to her. _He_ was worthless to her.

"Consider us over Shikamaru. Past over, even. I don't even want to speak to you now."

They walked away.

* * *

**_Day 63_**

Ino sighed as she wearily listened to another one of Iruka's long lectures in Chemistry. She'd lucked out again – no lab today. She purposely made sure to keep her head turned away from Shikamaru throughout the period since she knew he was watching her. He had called her at least ten times the day before, and the second he got into class (hair in a mess and the bags of his eyes even darker), he had tried to throw some crappy explanation at her, but she had plugged her ears instantly. She couldn't stand the sound of his voice right now.

But her thoughts wouldn't stray away from his face; the peaceful way he looked when he slept, the lazy smile that always lingered on his face when he was around her, and the chocolate brown depths of his eyes that always rested on her. He was like the screensaver of her mind's desktop, and the computer was frozen.

He pained her to think of the break up that weekend. When the bell rang to release class, she shoved her books in her bag and bolted from the room, gaining as much distance between herself and Shikamaru as she could on her way to English. It definitely was a _pain_ to have _every single_ class with him.

Sai was already in his desk when she stepped in the door.

"You look distraught." He mentioned monotonously. She averted her gaze to the ground and sighed.

"Yeah," she threw her purple backpack onto the ground beneath her desk and sat down, "whatever."

"Anything I can do?"

She drummed her fingers against her knees and sighed, the rubbed them against the rough fabric of her jeans, "You think you could… talk to him for me? Get the story from him so I don't have to? I want to know what happened, to be fair, but… I just can't stand to look at his face right now… it hurts too much."

Sai paused for a moment and stared at Ino, who wasn't even looking back, just at her legs. Then he smiled mysteriously again, and nodded, "Sure."

Ino looked up at him with a weak smile, "Thanks."

"No problem."

* * *

Ino did her best, as expected, to completely avoid Shikamaru for the rest of the day. She sat at Hinata's lunch table again and once again did not eat her noontime meal, but instead just sat quietly wit her head resting on her arms as the others chattered around her. She picked up a few words about The Sound Five at the beginning of the conversation and instantly tuned herself out. She didn't have a part of this anymore, since hers and Shikamaru's target obviously had no interest in her mission.

And apparently, the five were leaving that Friday.

"I heard Choji kicked Jiroubou's ass in wrestling the other day." Naruto laughed, "And Neji got Kidoumaru in some martial arts contest the other day. Dunno where that one came up." He raised his Styrofoam cup to his lips and took a large gulp of pink lemonade.

"There's some ongoing stand-off between Kiba and Ukon," Sakura reported, "It's like a cycle of revenge. After Ukon realized Kiba was keeping tabs on him, he snuck into Kiba's yard and attacked Akamaru. Crazy guy, if you ask me. Kiba caught him before he got away, though, and threw some sharp stones at him. Hit him really bad right here," she pointed to the lower right of her stomach, "Then Ukon brought his brother into the picture, and they all just keep attacking one another!"

"Hey! Plus!" Naruto interjected, slamming his drink onto the table, "Lee said he'd stand in for me to watch Kimimaro so I can better concentrate on Sasuke! Awesome, huh?"

The entire table proceeded to roll their eyes, even Hinata. They all knew that Naruto had _already_ been neglecting his job of preventing Kimimaro from enticing Sasuke into transferring to Oto Academy. He'd _always_ been to busy bothering the Uchiha himself.

"At least Lee has some sense."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Hey," Sakura whispered, trying not to let Ino hear her, "What about Tayuya? I saw her meeting with Sasuke early one morning before school. What's she been up to?"

"Who knows…"

That's when Ino realized it: Tayuya's illusion.

* * *

Ino was sure now she had it all figured out. It all depended on Sai to clear out Shikamaru's story for her.

When school let out, she waited for Sai in their designated area: at the bottom of the main stairwell in the main hallway. He always took a while to meet her there, his class being across the school. It wasn't until most of the crowd had dispersed that he finally arrived.

"Hello." Sai smiled mysteriously as he approached Ino.

"Hey," she crossed her arms, "So, what did he say?"

"Excuse me?"

"Shikamaru! Remember, I asked you to talk to him for me? I saw you speak in English. What did he say?"

"Oh, that." Sai nudged her forward so they could walk as he told her, "Let me see… what _did_ he say?"

"_Sai!_"

"All right, all right." He laughed softly, but then his face grew solemn, "You see, he said that she pushed herself onto him that day they kissed."

"Really?" Ino grinned widely.

"Yes. But…"

"What do you mean _but?_"

"You see, he was so enticed by the kiss that he couldn't make himself pull away."

Ino didn't say anything, just looked away. She raised one arm to shift the backpack on her shoulders and rub her other arm.

Sai looked down on and smiled apologetically, "Do you want to go somewhere today?"

"No. Just take me home."

_**

* * *

**_

Day 64 

Just past midnight, and Ino was still staring at her cell phone.

It had been that was since she got home. She'd set it right next to her as she did her homework, looking up every now and then to glance at the tiny sub LCD screen that flickered the time on the front of her Motorola RAZR phone. She skipped dinner that night, continuing the stare at the phone, all because she couldn't decide if she should call him or not. Would it be _worth_ it, after all?"

She picked up the phone and scrolled through her address book, highlighting his name. She would just have to push one button…

What would it hurt? She'd only get the full story, wouldn't she? …or would he lie? She'd been skeptical lately anyway, after all.

A moment later full of thought, she only sighed and pressed the 'talk' button. She had to talk to him about it now, and she was sure she'd be able to handle it now.

The phone rang twice before he answered, "Hello?" He yawned.

"Shikamaru."

"Ino!" He nearly shouted, and then she could hear him slap a hand over his mouth, probably cursing himself for causing noise that could possibly wake up his parents. It _was_ after midnight, after all. Which, by the way, puzzled her, because she was surprised he would answer his phone this late, always valuing sleep and all.

"Hey, I needed to ask you something."

"Anything. Just shoot. Is it about Tayuya? Because-"

He was beginning to ramble, trying to save his ass before she could kick it. "Yeah," she attempted to cut him off, but he continuing muttering across the line, "Shikamaru! Let me _talk!_"

"There's nothing between us Ino!"

"Look, I'm trying to get to that, if you'll let me talk!" She sighed, "Sai told me there was."

"_Sai!?_ _That_ bastard!? You know he only want you to himself, Ino!"

"Yeah, well. He's been awfully nice to me lately."

"Deception."

She grunted, "Uh huh."

"And Tayuya's just the same! She's just another Temari, Ino. Why can't you just fight her the same as you did Temari?"

"Because Temari actually gave up. Tayuya's hardcore."

"Did my laziness rub off onto you or something?"

"You know… I think I'm going to go to sleep now."

"What!? You call me up, act like you want me to explain myself, and don't even give me a chance to?"

"I'm sorry, Shikamaru."

"Ino, please!"

"Good night."

Ino hung up and turned off her phone, tossing it aside onto her nightstand as she dug herself underneath her bedcovers. She sighed and sandwiched her head between two pillows, falling asleep to thoughts and nightmares of a pink-haired demon who used her flute to destroy the love between a beautiful princess and her knight…

* * *

**Yeaaaaaah, short chapter. But I wanted to cut it off here instead of later. I'm definitely stretching this out longer than it needs to be XDDDDD**

**EVERY TIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING THE ROBOTS EAT YOU.**

**SAVE YOURSELVES!**


	24. For The Win

_**Day 64 cont.**_

Ino clenched her fists together tightly that day as Iruka explained today's lesson in Chemistry. Her sharp, freshly manicured nails dug into her palms like knives and her knuckles were an icy white. It probably hurt like hell, but she barely noticed.

_Please don't do a lab today. Anything but a lab today!_

"Today class," he passed out the handout packets for the day, "We'll be doing a lab on limited reactors."

_Damn you Iruka!_

Shikamaru instantly turned in his desk and smiled weakly, but Ino looked away. She _had_ to find another lab partner, and had to do it now!

"_Gaara!_" She slapped a hand on the back of the silent boy in front of her. He did not flinch, but turned slowly in his seat and gave an annoyed glare. One did not just simply go and startle Gaara, after all. But Ino did her best not to be fazed. "_Please_ switch partners with me today!"

"Why?"

Ino's eyes slowly drifted to their side where her ex-boyfriend sat, who had slumped into his chair and decided to ignore them, admitting defeat and reading the handout. Gaara's eyes followed her and he blinked, then proceeded to shrug, "Sure, whatever."

"_Thank you so much!_"

"Hey, I don't care. I'm the one who gets the easy grade. You, however, get to work with my sister."

"…._what!?"_

It was a rather odd lab, but no one was complaining. Who would when you got to make cookies for a grade? Ino grumbled as she meaninglessly scribbled onto her lab handout. Temari, who was mixing the ingredients together as it had instructed, looked down on her and raised an eyebrow, "You sure that drawing scribbles all over your paper is going to get you a good grade?"

"Mrrf."

"Or lord," she sighed, "How did I get stuck with you today? Why couldn't you ask Gaara if _he'd_ be your lab partner, not me?"

Ino didn't answer that question, because the answer should have been obvious enough. Gaara scared her witless, even if he _was_ a thousand times nicer than he ever had been before, thanks to some run-in he had recently had with Naruto. She just looked away.

"Why did you even want to switch partners anyway? Aren't you and Shikamaru like, _inseparable_ or something?"

"What, did you not hear?" Ino raised her head off the lab table and looked at her with annoyed eyes, describing her as the idiot she was.

Temari blinked, "Hear what?"

"Shikamaru and I _broke up!_ Tayuya stole him from me!"

"What, you mean that creepy pink-haired flutist from Oto?" She looked at Ino disbelievingly, "How is _that_ possible? She's a total bitch! Not to mention ugly to boot."

"You've met her?"

"Well, we don't have any classes together or anything, but I've seen her around. Especially before school, and before Shikamaru arrives. She's always bothering Sasuke, though he doesn't really seem to _mind._"

Bothering Sasuke? _So the others were right, she is meeting with him after all._ Ino pursed her lips, "Yeah, well, I never liked her."

Temari laughed, "Well _duh._"

"She's like you, but worse."

"Really? I'll have to give her props for that one," she laughed again, "But I'm over Shikamaru, have been for a long time, and you know that."

"Yeah, yeah. Point?"

"I'm saying, I'm not too fond of her either. I don't like girls who try to steal taken men."

"Didn't stop you!"

"Ah! But it did." She pointed the plastic spoon she had been using to stir at Ino's nose, "If memory serves, I gave up on him just before he officially asked you out. And then I never bothered you again!"

"…true. You win."

"Here's the deal, Ino." She turned off the hot plate and let the batter cool before pouring it onto a cooking sheet, "We both hate Tayuya, and you obviously still love Shikamaru. I'm offering to help you kick that flute girl's ass and get your man back."

"You'd really do that?"

Temari blew at the lumps of cookie batter to cool, then unstuck one of them from the cookie sheet and handed it to Ino to eat, "Of course. Like I said, I hate a girl who steals another's man."

Ino took the cookie happily and smiled, "Thanks."

* * *

"All right, step one to win is to listen." 

Ino pursed her lips and shot an annoyed glance at Temari, who stood between her and Shikamaru, her left hand resting on Ino's shoulder and her right on his. Shikamaru's eyes drooped lazily, and he blinked quite a few times, obviously incredibly tired (they could tell by the bags under his eyes, he was incredibly sleep deprived). They were in the midst of third-period gym, and the entire class was spread out around the gymnasium playing basketball at different hoops; ergo, no major game and the perfect time to straighten things out. Temari narrowed her eyes.

"Oh please, Ino, stop being a brat and give him a chance to explain himself."

"But Sai said-"

"Sai's a no-good bastard who only wants you for himself," Temari glared, "Even I know that. He's only been lying to you. _Anyway,_" she tightened her grip on their shoulders, "Ground rules. Ino, if you run away before he finishes, or keep him from finishing, I will slap you. Shikamaru, if you lie, I will slap you. And I can tell."

He nodded lazily and blinked slowly again. Ino nodded and tugged at the bottom of her shirt. Neither spoke.

Temari blinked, "What are you waiting for? Go!"

"Oh, right." Shikamaru yawned widely. "I've been trying to tell you Ino, there's _nothing_ between me and Tayuya. That day you saw her kissing me, she had forced herself onto me only seconds before you showed up. I barely had time to react."

"So Sai was right about one thing."

"_No talking!_"

"No, Temari, it's just he told me that she had forced herself on you, but in a completely different way."

Shikamaru blinked, but Temari just slapped the back of her head, "_No talking!_"

"Owww! Fine! Go on." Ino rubbed the back of her head and glared at Temari.

"Then, when I saw you at the mall, Tayuya just popped out of nowhere. I wasn't expecting her, nothing. I don't even know how she knew I was there. It was purely coincidental."

Ino crossed her arms and tapped two fingers against one. Shikamaru yawned again and rubbed his eyes roughly, and Temari glared at Ino expectantly. "I believe you."

Shikamaru lowered his hand from his eyes and smiled, even grinned, for what was probably the first time in days. Temari grinned as well. "So you'll take me back."

"Well…"

"Ino." Temari tightened her grip on Ino's shoulder even more, and she flinched. "For the last time, Sai is only fooling you. He doesn't care what happens to Shikamaru here as long as he gets you to himself. You can't believe a word uttered from his lips." Temari's glare intensified when Ino remained silent, "I mean it. Besides, look at how much _sleep_ Shikamaru, of all people, has lost thanks to this whole ordeal!"

Ino shook her head, "No."

"No _what?_"

Shikamaru's back stiffened, expecting Ino to denounce his faith to her, and once again run back to Sai. He bit his lip and rubbed his eyes again.

"I mean no, I'm never going to believe Sai again." She held out her arms, "I've missed you _so_ much, Shika."

A split-second later he swooped her up in a tight embrace and the wind was nearly knocked out of her. He didn't say a word, however, just held her in his arms. They stood that way for quite a while, with Temari snickering in the background, before Ino finally tapped on his shoulder.

"Shika, dear? I'm flattered, but could you please let go now?"

"Ino… I think he fell asleep."

"What!?"

"Yup, he's asleep all right."

"_Shikamaru!"

* * *

_

_**Day 65**_

Ino, Shikamaru, and Temari walked into school together that morning at the usual time: just before the crowd appeared, when the parking lot was only full of cars that belonged to the sports kids who arrived and hour at least beforehand, therefore leaving the best spots open that allowed the fastest way out of the lot. They arrived at the entryway to the cafeteria, and the two females instantly shot looks at Shikamaru.

"_Go!_"

"What? What about _you two?_"

"We can't go in there, stupid!" Temari said harshly beneath her breath. "She'll know something's up!"

"Yeah, yeah." He rolled his eyes and took a step forward, leaving the two of them in the entryway. Ino and Temari looked at each other, considering their placement, and instantly ran into the cafeteria and ducked behind the partition that separated the level they were on to the one below. Across the room, Shikamaru approached Tayuya at the table she sat at, alone.

"Morning, Tayuya."

The flutist twisted in her seat to look at her visitor, "Shikamaru! This is… a surprise. You've never approached me before."

Shikamaru grunted and shrugged, but didn't reply. Tayuya blinked and drifted her eyes off to one side, and a long, pregnant silenced passed. Ino and Temari were both watching impatiently in the background.

"Well… why don't you sit down, Shika?" She tugged his arm, "Help me with my homework?"

"No." He pulled his arm back, "You don't need help."

She stared up at him, confused, "Shikamaru?"

"Quite a nasty trick you played, Tayuya. Clever, though. Pretending you like me and trying to break me up with my girlfriend to keep our minds off you _real_ purpose for being here."

"I don't-"

"No. You _wouldn't_ understand, would you? You don't understand _anything, _do you? Because you _always need my help_. Always getting between Ino and I."

Tayuya stood up hastily from the bench and glared deeply into Shikamaru's eyes, "So what if I ruined _one_ relationship for you? This is _high school._ Things _don't_ last forever." Her voice dripped with a sickeningly sour tone, "Thanks to _my_ clever plan I got closer to Sasuke than any of the others ever _dreamed_ of, because I had _no obstacles_ in my way."

Her face was only inches from his, but this time there was no hidden agenda behind her actions. A devilish smile was painted across the flutist's face, and her eyes were full of malice. It was almost as if she were a completely different _person_ now.

"_I regret noth-"_ Her sentence was cut off when she had to make a sudden gasp for air, as something constricted and tightened around her neck, crushing her windpipe. Tayuya reached her hands up to investigate; Shikamaru had raised his own to choke her.

Her body shook, as if she were laughing without using air. Then, surprisingly, she began to whisper to him. "_You can't get me like that, Shikamaru. I'm a damn_ band member._ We train our lungs so much to hold our breath for ages,"_ she shook more, "_In fact, I can still breath now._"

Shikamaru gritted his teeth, "I don't give a damn! I lost hours of sleep because of you! I haven't been with my girlfriend in what seems like _years!_ And worst of all, _you made her spend time with that _bastard_ Sai and worry herself near to death!_" He shook her violently to and fro, "_I fucking HATE YOU!_"

Twenty or so feet away, Ino bit her lip and clenched her fingers tighter to the partition, "I'm flatter of what he's saying on my behalf, but the actions…" she turned her head to speak directly to Temari, but found her completely disappeared, "…Temari?" She blinked, confused, "Where'd you go!?"

Ino flipped her head back in anguish, trying to locate her now-comrade, but found no one. Just the same, unchanging events… until she saw a flash of gray in the corner of her eye.

In a second, Temari had ran out of the entryway, towards Shikamaru and Tayuya, with a fist extended. She punched Tayuya right out of Shikamaru's hands and into the next partition. The flutist was out like a light, Shikamaru was staring on in utter disbelief, and Temari was rubbing her knuckles in satisfaction. Ino was speechless.

It was over.

* * *

**ACK I'M SOOOOO SORRY I uploaded the wrong chapter...**

**YEAH I THINK THAT CHAPTER'S LONG ENOUGH. COOL BEANS.**

**Speaking of beans…**

**EVERYTIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING, JACK'S MAGIC BEANS EXPLODE AFTER HE PLANTS THEM AND THE BEANSTALK NEVER GROWS AND INSTEAD THEY DESTROY ALL THE SOIL AND NOTHING CAN EVER GROW AGAIN SO EVERYONE DIES!**

**Save the world, kids.**


	25. Final Blow

_**Day 70**_

Students all across the school, of every grade and of every caliber, were pained with loss of a formidable ally. Uchiha Sasuke, member of the National Honor Society, president and salutatorian of the junior class, and star player on the varsity football team, had been chosen to leave Konoha High and transfer to Oto Academy. And he had accepted. His last day in Konoha was that last Friday, and as he stepped out of the school for the last time you could hear the entire school weeping behind him.

But who _cares?_ Shikamaru and Ino were _back together._

Sure, Sakura was bawling her eyes out, and Naruto had to keep biting his lip and wiping his eyes to keep from crying himself so he could look strong before Sakura, but you could tell he was torn up inside anyway. Neither of them had even shown up to school that day, they were just _that torn up_ about it.

And apparently, all of the Sound Five had left Konoha with their asses kicked and their faces burning in embarrassment. The news of Choji and Neji's victories over their rivals had already spread across the school before Shikamaru and Temari had taken down Tayuya, but unknown to them, at the same time they were face to face with the flutist, Kiba and Lee were taking care of their own rivals. On the way to school, Kiba got rear-ended by Ukon and they both had to pull over to settle the matter. Ukon had a short fuse and quickly turned a simple exchange of car papers into a full-on fist fight, and beat Kiba up pretty bad, too. Luckily, Kankorou, who had been walking out of the grocery store whose parking lot they had pulled into, quickly broke up the fight and settled the matter in Kiba's favor. Ukon walked away with charges for the accident and the fist-fight.

On the other hand, Lee had, once again, been the first one back from the long training run for cross country and was walking around the school to cool down. He accidentally bumped into Kimimaro when he rounded one corner (quite forcefully, in fact). He had apologized profusely, but Kimimaro did not accept it, and threw a nasty insult at him before turning away. Lee wouldn't allow him to leave on such a rude note and stopped him from running. Long story short, a fight started, and Lee was losing _badly_. It was about that time Temari dropped Gaara off at the entrance they were in front of, and the solemn Sand transfer student was able to step in and stop the fight. Kimimaro instead just started attacking Gaara, but eventually his time was cut short by a rapid coughing fit and had to run inside to the Nurse. Gaara called it a stroke of luck, but Lee declared victory.

The last day of Sasuke's time in Konoha, Naruto finally confront him and told (or rather shouted) him how wrong it was that he was leaving, where he had accomplished so much for not only himself but for the school itself. Sasuke did not listened, and left without so much as another word. All that mattered to him was exceeding his brother.

So Konoha was left to its small victories and large loss. But as (almost) stated earlier, two teens weren't sad about this in the _least._ As the school went on mourning, Shikamaru and Ino just went along in the halls, holding hands and laughing with one another, without a care in the world.

Who needs an Uchiha when you have this happy couple?

However, there was still one more _small_ problem. Just one more _small_ obstacle that had to be taken care of.

Sai.

Even though Tayuya was long gone and Shikamaru and Ino was officially dating again, Sai was still determined to make Ino his. It didn't matter that she had rejected him a thousand times now, that she spat his name in disgust in his presence, or that Shikamaru sent unnumbered deadly glares in his direction at every moment, he still would not cease his actions. Ino could not shake him off any longer.

Shikamaru had no choice but to come up with a devious plan.

* * *

When they reached English that day, Shikamaru confidently approached Kakashi at his desk before the bell rang, leaving Ino in her desk. He had to do this _fast_, before Sai walked in.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hmm?" Kakashi looked up from the papers he was grading (Sakura had finally persuaded him to get those research papers taken care of, after it being nearly a month since they were turned in). "What is it?"

"I'm here on behalf of Sai," Shikamaru did his best to create fake sympathy that seemed at least mildly convincing, "You see, he caught this extremely contagious disease. Extremely. But he can't afford to miss school."

"So?"

"So he requests you seat him in the corner of the room, far enough from the class so he can't breath on anyone." He pointed at the corner of the room furthest from Ino and much closer to his own desk, but still a few feet away from any surrounding desks, "Just as a precaution."

Kakashi looked over to the corner, "Why doesn't he tell me this himself?"

"He's embarrassed, sir."

Kakashi sighed, "Whatever. Tell him to go ahead. It couldn't hurt anything."

Shikamaru smirked, "Thank you sir."

It was only a second later that Sai walked into the class and made a beeline for his desk behind Ino, before Kakashi shouted to him.

"Sai! Sorry to hear about you recent malady. Nothing to worry about, though. You've been moved to the back corner." Kakashi beamed and pointed across the room. Sai stared back, confused and bewildered, then immediately came to an epiphany and glared deeply at Shikamaru.

"You didn't want to make anyone sick, did you?" Shikamaru's smirk grew wider, "Just doing you a favor."

"…yes, Kakashi-sensei. Thank you." He growled, before turning on his heel and heading to his new desk. Ino laughed quietly in her seat.

"Nice one," she said to him as he passed her desk.

Shikamaru smiled, "Only a small change. He'll still bother you outside of class."

"But it's a step in the right direction, at least. I was getting _incredibly_ tired of him tapping me on the back with his pen all the time."

"And things should only be getting better."

* * *

_**Day 71**_

"Just wait."

It was group project time in English. Everyone had been separated into four-person groups the day before and were assigned separate projects based on the latest book the were reading, _The Catcher in the Rye._ Despite Sai's denial of any disease possibly having evaded his immune system, Kakashi insisted that he was given a separate, single-man project so he wouldn't risk contaminating the health of his classmates. So while Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, and Sakura worked on deciphering the two most important sentences of the novel, Sai looked on at them maliciously, scribbling his two-thousand-word essay in gloom.

"What are we waiting for, exactly?"

Shikamaru only smiled smugly, "Just wait."

The three exchanged puzzled looks before shrugging. No one ever understood Shikamaru's plans and strategies until they had at least been halfway enacted. His words were too confusing (if he ever decided to use the energy to explain himself…). It was better to just observe.

Sai's frustration finally bubbled up enough that he shook in his seat madly, growling softly, and snapped his pencil in to in an angry vice grip. Shikamaru smirked and fished a plastic bottle out of his pocket; it was clear, with no label, and was full of questionable looking red pills. He handed the bottle to Sakura and whispered something in her ear. Sakura eyed him questionably before nodding and raising a hand.

"Kakashi-sensei!" She called. He looked up from his desk, a tad annoyed that she was bothering him in the middle of what was probably, in his mind, the best part of the novel he was currently reading. When he didn't move, just sat there curious, Sakura motioned her fingers for him to come over. He sighed, marked his place, and walked up to her.

"What is it?"

"It's time for Sai's medicine." She whispered, "See? He's getting really cranky. Side effect of the disease, you see, really sad. He's bad about keeping up with it, so his guardian Yamato asked me to watch it for him. You know Yamato well, right? He subs for you sometimes. And he wanted me to remind you to make sure he takes _two_. And _watch_ him swallow them! He'll sometimes fake it."

Kakashi stared at Sakura for a moment, trying to push the truth out of her with his eyes. She smiled sheepishly, and when he decided she would say no more, he sighed and took the bottle, "Fine. But I'm having a talk with Yamato about this later."

Sakura, Ino, and Choji instantly shot anxious looks at Shikamaru, who just smiled smugly and suppressed a chuckle. Kakashi didn't notice this, thankfully, as he turned his back on the group and weaved through the maze of desks over to where Sai was seated in the corner. The quartet couldn't hear what he was saying over the murmurs of their classmates, but they got the gist of the story through the actions displayed. Kakashi calmly held the bottle out to Sai, who just stared at it in fear before glancing back up to Kakashi. Kakashi nudged it further at him, but Sai shook his head and refused. What was the point of taking medicine if he wasn't sick? Wasn't that dangerous, anyway? Kakashi didn't know that, however, and sighed as he opened the bottle and took out two pills, poking them close to Sai's mouth. When Sai squeezed his lips shut, Kakashi decided to force feed them to him.

Sai didn't stand a chance.

He gulped the red pills down fast, which made Kakashi beam in satisfaction as he closed the bottle again and returned back to the quartet. He silently passed it back off to Sakura before returning to his desk to resume his reading.

Ino narrowed her eyes, "What was _that_ about?"

"Just wait," He repeated, glancing at Sai sideways, who was fidgeting in his seat nervously, "Give him time to let his… _medicine_ kick in.. Class only just started."

Ino's eyes widened, "You didn't do anything to harm him, did you?"

Shikamaru smiled at her, but said nothing. His smile didn't seem to hide anything, it was just the same old lazy grin he gave her every day. She decided to trust him; as much as she hated Sai, she didn't want to do anything to harm him.

Surely enough, an hour into class Sai began to get spastic. He started to twitch and shake in his chair, he blinked his eyes frequently and eventually clutched his chest.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sai shouted in agony, "I think I'm having a heart attack!"

Kakashi didn't even looked up from his book, obviously not caring, "Sai, you just took your medication. Calm down."

"Then why is my heart beating erratically!?"

A concerned girl from the group sitting closest to Sai approached him and applied two fingers to his neck, feeling his pulse, "…your pulse is just fine, Sai."

"No, it isn't!" He smacked her away. The girl gave him a disgusted look before marching off to her post. "And I'm getting a headache! No… no I think it's a _migraine!_"

Kakashi looked up, annoyed, at Sai, then turned his head to Shikamaru and raised an eyebrow.

Shikamaru shrugged, "Told you he hated it."

Kakashi sighed and looked back to Sai, "If it's really that bad, go see the nurse."

"The _nurse!?_ You should be calling me an _ambulance!_"

Kakashi sighed again, "Ino, would you please escort Sai to the nurse?"

"Uh…" Ino glanced at Shikamaru out of the corner of her eye. He nodded, smirking, signaling that it was okay and probably even amusing. "Yeah. I guess."

"Good. Get him out of here _now_ please. I can't take his screaming anymore."

Ino obeyed, leaving her group and carefully making her way over to Sai's desk in the corner. She hesitated when she reached a hand for his arm, as his entire torso was shaking uncontrollably. He didn't even acknowledge, much less notice, her touch when she finally pulled him out of his seat and supported his weight with her arms. She maneuvered him through the desks and led him out of the class and to the nurse's office.

_What has Shikamaru _done?Ino thought, biting her lip as she walked Sai down the main hall. His state of being hadn't really changed at all with her around him, _Even Sai doesn't deserve something this bad! Then again… even Shikamaru wouldn't _do_ something this bad… _She let out an audible growl in frustration. Sai didn't notice at all, _Good lord, that boy is so confusing!_

She grumbled the rest of the way down the hall, before shoving Sai into the Nurse's office to the right, "Nurse Shizune?"

"What is it?" She looked up from her desk impatiently, then took in Sai's state and raised both eyebrows, "What's wrong with him?"

"Um, well, I don't exactly-"

Sai finally surveyed his surroundings and stared at Shizune in pain, "_I'm having a heart attack! Why won't anyone call an ambulance!?_"

"Hun, if you were having a heart attack, you'd be screaming in much more pain than that. _Actual_ pain. But I'll check on you anyway. Sit down." She pointed to the cot behind them and stood from her desk, adjusting the watch on her wrist. She made her way over to them and placed two fingers on Sai's neck, gazing at her watch. After a minute, she placed her hand on his forehead, then took it back and sighed.

"Sai, your pulse is normal and your temperature's fine. There's nothing wrong with you."

"_He did something to me! I know he did!_"

Shizune raised an eyebrow at Ino, who just shrugged.

"Well, if it'll make you feel any better, you can lie down here. I'll get you a bottle of water." She nodded to Ino, "And _you_ go back to class."

"Don't have to tell me twice," She looked at Sai and grimaced, "Thanks." And with that, Ino instantly ran off to class.

* * *

"So what happened to Sai?" Sakura asked, bespectacled, as Ino took her place back in the English group.

"Nothing at all! It's _so _strange!" Ino turned her head to Shikamaru and glared, "What did you _do_?"

"_I _didn't do anything." Shikamaru smirked in satisfaction, "It was all _him_."

"Then what the hell were those pills you gave him? That _had_ to do something with it!"

"Oh, those?" Shikamaru's smirk grew wider, "Yeah, I suppose they had something to do with it. You see, that was just a bottle of really bad tasting candy. Got 'em at a joke shop nearby."

"_What!?_" Sakura and Ino both yelled in unison. Kakashi grumbled in the background, and they instantly lowered their voices.

"Then what was all _that_ about?" Ino asked again, "I _know_ he doesn't have a super-contagious disease."

"He doesn't. It was all in his head."

Choji snickered in approval of his friend's plan. He punched him in the shoulder, "Nice one, man."

Ino, still confused, blinked and dropped her jaw, "_What!?"_

Kakashi grumbled again in the background, and Sakura shoved her to be quiet.

"Ino, you know how overdoses in medicine, or even using it when it isn't needed, can be extremely bad for you health?" Shikamaru asked her.

"Yes."

"Well, I simply made him _think_ he was taking medicine when he shouldn't. He got so paranoid that he thought something was happening to him." Shikamaru's smirk grew wider, and Sakura joined Choji in snickering, "It was all in his head. Sometimes you can imagine things much, much worse than they really are."

Ino's jaw dropped, "Shikamaru…"

"Yes?"

"You're a terribly person. But I love you."

She leaned over and kissed him straight on lips. Sakura groaned, "Oh come _on_ you two! Get a room! We're still in the middle of class!"

"YOU FOUR!" Kakashi slammed his book on his desk and stared at them in anger, "I've had enough shenanigans out of you! Shut up before I give you all detention!"

The group could only laugh in reply.

When the bell finally rang for the end of that period, Sakura rolled up their poster project and shoved it in the back, and they all left for lunch together. They continued to laugh about the day's progress, Ino and Shikamaru walking together hand-in-hand as always down the main hall to the cafeteria.

However, the were stopped halfway there.

Sai stood before them, right smack dab in the middle of the hallway and completely in their way. He had regained all composure; it was as if the events of that second period English class that day had never happened at all.

With contempt, he looked Shikamaru straight in the eyes and spat, "You win."

"Hmm?"

"I won't bother Ino anymore. You win."

"Me? Win? I was never aware that this was a contest." Shikamaru laughed, "As far as I'm concerned, I won Ino over a long, long time ago."

Sai grumbled in response, infuriated. Ino rolled her eyes, "Oh _please!_ Stop talking about me like I'm some trophy, you two! I'm a human being, and I can choose my own boyfriend!"

"Yes, but you _already_ chose me." Shikamaru said, smiling, and kissed her forehead.

Sai growled deeply, "You sicken me."

"Don't worry, Sai." He patted his head and pushed him gently out of the way, "There are plenty of other fish in the sea."

The couple walked past him, laughing, as the walked towards the cafeteria again. Choji had trudged off already, wanting food terribly, and Sakura had spotted Naruto and followed him to lunch.

"Maybe he should go date Temari."

"Two old rivals? That would make for quite a deadly combination."

"Just a suggestion. They wouldn't mesh together well at all, anyway." Ino squeezed Shikamaru's hand when they entered the vast lunchroom, and he squeezed back. "You're amazing, Shikamaru."

"You as well."

* * *

**YEAH. SO. UPDATES. YEAH. NICE THING, THOSE.**

**Mmmhhmmm.**

**And that **_**officially**_** closes the latest arc, now that both Tayuya **_**and**_** Sai are out of the picture. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY COME NEXT!?**

**Oh, I think you know. ….yes. You do. …you don't!? What?**

**Then you're just going to have to WAIT.**

**EVERY TIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING, MY MOM LIGHTS A CANDLE THAT TURNS OUT TO BE A BOMB AND IT BLOWS MY HOUSE UP.**

**Save my house pleaaaaaaaaase.**

**I rather like living in it.**


	26. Winter

_**Day 91**_

It had been three weeks of serenity at Konoha High since Sai had finally given up on Ino. Well, as long as you didn't count Naruto's constant scheming to get Sasuke to come back to the school (the Uchiha had to change his cell phone number twice), or Sakura's endless determination to prove herself as a human being (she had yet to find what she wanted to do with life, much less compile a list of colleges to apply to next year). Yeah. Things were pretty calm and nice.

Oh yeah. Shikamaru had to get a job.

Mrs. Nara kicked him out of the house one day over Thanksgiving break and refused to let him in until he had gotten a part-time job, so he and Ino roamed the city until they found a Super Target hiring floor crew workers. He was now getting paid seven dollars an hour to basically walk around the store and act like he knew he what he was doing.

Now it was December. The air was frosty with the winter season, and the streets were busy with pedestrians running from store to store looking for Christmas gifts. Ino smiled every time she thought about the upcoming holiday: it would be her first that she could spend with someone she so dearly loved. All the Christmases past had been the same, boring story with her parents year after year.

"What do you want for Christmas, Shika?"

"Mmm…" He gazed bored out the windshield of his card as he drove her home from school, "I don't really care."

"Oh come _on_, it's our first Christmas together! There has to be _something_ I can get you that will make it special!"

"Honestly, Ino, I don't care what you get me, or if you get me anything at all." He smiled at her, looking away from the road only briefly, "As long as it's from you, I'll love it."

"Shikamaru…" She stared at him in total awe, feeling as if she were falling in love with him all over again, "Thanks." The fact that she was going to ask him for a ring from Kay Jeweler's that she had seen the day before suddenly made her feel disgustingly materialistic. "I feel the same way."

"Good, because I'm hoping to surprise you for Christmas, instead of getting whatever expensive item you have on you wish list."

"Eh heh… yeah."

"Here we are." He pulled up in front of Ino's apartment and shifted the car into park, "I'll see you tomorrow."

She leaned over to his seat and kissed his cheek, "See you then."

Ino pulled her backpack out of the back seat and got out of the car, waving goodbye as she watched him drive out of the parking lot. She took a deep breath of fresh air before turning for her door. The chilly air sent shivers of excitement through her spine, reminding her of what was to come.

She noticed her father's Mercedes parked in it's usual parking space before stepping inside. _This is odd_, she blinked, _why is he home so early?_

"I'm home!" Ino called as she walked inside. She threw her backpack on the ground by the door and hung her coat up on the rack on the wall to her left. Her shoes were kicked to the side, sprawled out in a mess compared to her parents' shoes that sat in an orderly line along the bottom of the wall. She skipped into the kitchen to grab a soda.

"Welcome home," her father said to her once she entered the room. He was seated at the head of the table, his fingers laced together in front of him on top of the newspaper he was reading. Her mom sat beside him, smiling up at her.

Her smile didn't seem whole.

"Hey, what's up?" Ino asked. She opened the refrigerator door and pulled out a Diet Sunkist, then pushed the door closed with her hip as she opened the can with a light sizzle.

"We have some news for you," her father spoke at once, "Something important has come up."

The can fell to the floor with a clang, and orange soda spilled everywhere.

* * *

Shikamaru sank into the couch with a deep sigh and closed his eyes. His mother was rambling along in the background about how he needed to do his chores, but he had preferred not to listen to her right now. He'd only just returned from school, and needed a moment (or a couple hours) to relax.

"Your room is a mess. I don't understand how you can _possibly_ live up there, it's a _pig sty!_ You can't have Ino coming over every weekend to clean it for you, you know! I'm surprised she does it, anyway. I'm scared to even set foot in there!"

He grumbled from the couch. He was fine with his surroundings in there, wasn't that enough for her? It's not like anyone went in his room except for he and Ino, anyway. And Ino only went in there on the rarest of occasions.

"You're never going to get anywhere in life if you don't take care of yourself, Shikamaru. Don't you understand how much that worries me?"

That old hag really needed to relax more.

The door bell suddenly rang, and Yoshino asked for Shikamaru to answer it. He grumbled and sat up, flexing his back before taking a step forward. It was too early for Dad to be home, did the neighbor run out of eggs again? But wouldn't he have called first?

"Yes?" He asked lazily as he opened the door. He barely had time to register who was there before he felt someone run into his arms, gripping him tightly around his waist and burying her face into his chest. He looked down and saw only a mass of blond hair.

"Ino? This is a surprise… how'd you get here?" He asked, not seeing a car outside. She couldn't drive yet, could she? He looked back down at her, and realized she was shaking and choking out sobs, "Whoa! What's wrong?"

"Shikamaru…" she cried. She couldn't bear to look up at him, "We're moving."

* * *

"Here dear, have some tea. It'll make you feel better."

Ino accepted the warm mug of tea with a sad smile and took a long sip. Yoshino sat beside her at the table and patted her back supportively, past nagging aside. Now was not the time.

"We're moving to… Iwa." She managed to choke out, and immediately let a few tears loose with the uttering of that word. "And we're leaving on Friday."

"That's across the country…"

"Yeah." Ino tried to hide her sad face behind her mug, "I know."

"Why did you come here, dear?" Yoshino asked, "I know Shikamaru's your boyfriend, but…" Shikamaru mentally groaned, reminding himself to complain to his mother later about how he was a lot more caring towards his girlfriend than he made out to be.

"Where else would I go? I didn't want to stay there anymore."

"You can't run from moving."

"I can, and will." She choked again. Shikamaru bit his lip; he knew what was coming, "I'm not going with them!"

Yoshino and Shikamaru exchanged worried looks, then Yoshino looked back to Ino and rubbed her shoulder, "But where would you stay?"

The question puzzled Shikamaru as well. He knew she couldn't stay with Sakura, due to her father's alcoholism. Hinata's family was way too high-class and high-strung to accept Ino into their home. Tenten had never spoken of her family, but he was pretty sure that the whole of them were too busy to deal with another household member. Temari was… Temari. The two of them may not be sworn enemies anymore, but that didn't mean Ino would survive in the probably-death-trap of the Temari and Gaara's home. Who was left?

"Well… couldn't I stay here?"

The two Naras suddenly looked at one another, surprised, not sure of what to do. "Ino…" Yoshino managed, choosing words carefully, "I'm… not sure…"

"I've spent the weekend here with Shikamaru and Choji before, and nothing went wrong!" Ino pleaded, tightening her grip on the mug. She looked up to Yoshino in desperation, "And you've seen me clean Shikamaru's room, I can help you… no, I'll _do_ all the housework!"

Yoshino bit her lip, still unsure how to respond. Shikamaru leaned back against the wall behind him and crossed his arms. This was a puzzling predicament indeed. It's not that the Naras didn't _mind_ Ino staying in their home… she wouldn't be much of a burden, and could probably take care of herself. But what would her parents do?

"Ino, I'm really not sure we can let you stay here… I mean, your parents would be _devastated…_"

"I don't _care!_" Ino shouted, causing both Yoshino and Shikamaru to jump. "They can't do this to me anymore! Especially not _now_, right before _Christmas!_ This is the first place I've ever been able to make such great friends… it's the first time I was going to get to spend the holidays with someone I _loved!_ But no, we have to _move! On Friday!_"

"Ino, honey…" Yoshino rubbed her back again, and sighed, "Go ahead and stay here tonight. You brought an overnight bag, right? The guest room's upstairs, I'm sure you remember. Take the night to relax and let everything soak in, but please remember," Yoshino took Ino's face with both hands and made her meet her gaze, "We cannot take you in, dear."

Ino immediately looked away and stood from her seat, harshly breaking Yoshino's hold on her. She grabbed her overnight bag from the ground and quietly made her way out of the kitchen, up the stairs and towards the guest room.

Yoshino sighed, "She's so upset. I wish we could do more to help her."

"Isn't there any way to keep her family from moving?"

"I don't think so. Her father's a naval officer, in case you forgot. He can't just ignore orders, even if it's his daughter's feelings he's hurting."

Shikamaru bit his lip and nodded, "I better go talk to her."

"Good idea."

* * *

"Ino?"

Shikamaru poked his head through the door, briefly going blind as his eyes took their time adjusting to the thick darkness that was set over the guest room. The hall light was too contrasting against it, and he was sure the creature inside the room didn't enjoy it, but he had a feeling deep in the pit of his stomach that if he closed that door behind him, bad, _terrible_ things would happen. He surveyed the moment, and decided that indeed, his safety was very important to him, even in contrast to Ino's emotional damage.

"_What?_" She hissed from within. Shikamaru finally found her curled up in a ball at the foot of the bed. Deciding that the door was best left open, he unhinged it all the way and made his way inside.

"Are you going to be all right?"

"What do _you_ think?"

"Ino…" he sighed, and crawled onto the bed next to her. He took her into his arms and held her close to himself; she resisted at first, but quickly melted into his embrace, "I wish there was something I could really do, but you're underage. You can't leave your family just like that."

She was quiet for a while; it was, after all, pretty tough to battle Shikamaru's logic.

"You know, long-distance relationships never work."

"We'll make it work," he squeezed her tighter, "I promise."

He could feel her smile as she responded to his hug, finally, but wrapping her arms around him and hugging back. He patted the top of her head before resting his chin there.

"Will you write me every day?"

"Sure."

Ino laughed to herself lightly, thinking of the task that Shikamaru was actually going to make himself do, "And maybe I can still come back over winter break for Christmas."

"We'll see."

Ino lifted her head and arched her eyebrows, "If I didn't know you were such a lazy man, I'd say you didn't want me around."

"But luckily you _do_ know."

"Yes, well…" she sighed and rested her head against his chest again. A long moment of silence passed again as neither of them moved, just enjoying each other's presence as the clocked ticked away their last moments together.

"Shikamaru?"

"What is it?"

"I… love you."

Shikamaru froze, his mind for once blank with no idea what to say. All thought processes seemed to stop; he couldn't predict the next 200 possible moves as usual.

Because Ino had uttered the three words a man in a relationship fears hearing most.

* * *

**IT'S. NOT. DEAD. YET.**

**I WILL FINISH THIS DAMN THING. I'LL DO IT.**

**Oh, plus…**

**EVERYTIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING, TEDDY GRAHAMS COME TO LIFE AND ARE SUPER COOL AND LIKE YOUR BEST FRIENDS EVER UNTIL A LITTLE KID COMES BY WITH A GLASS OF MILK AND EATS THEM ALL.**

**Save the teddy grahams, kids.**


	27. Clouds

_**Day 93**_

This was definitely the oddest occurrence of Ino's short life.

Shikamaru hadn't spoken a word to her since Monday night. After she had crashed at his house that night, post-drama, he took her to school the next day and home afterwards, but never spoke a word to her. It was all rather puzzling.

But deep down in the pit of her stomach, she knew the reason why he wouldn't speak to her. The three make-or-break words she had uttered to him that night had shocked him. Now with the inner turmoil they had caused, who knows if he would ever speak to her again?

She grimaced and looked at the clock hidden in the corner of her computer screen. Three fifty-five. School would be out in ten minutes, and another day of her precious time left in Konoha would be finished. She only had one more full day of school here left, and then she was leaving Friday afternoon…

Maybe it was best to cut it off anyway. Long distance relationships never worked.

* * *

Shikamaru stared restlessly at the clock. He knew it was his move, that Asuma was waiting on another computer across the room for him to finish the game of online chess, but for some reason, his brain just wasn't functioning properly. He drummed his fingers against the table and allowed himself to blink once. Three fifty-six. Ino only had just under twenty four hours left of school here, and then she was leaving Friday.

Was that really enough time?

Monday night had left him in a conflict. Never had he known the great power that such few words could hold. He'd seen it happen in movies, of course, when his mother had hold of the remote and he had nothing better to do, but he'd always thought it was a load of crap. Now he wished he'd paid better attention to how the guy got out of this mess.

Logically speaking, it should be as easy as repeating those cursed words back to her. But he knew all too well that Ino would be able to look right at him and tell whether he truly meant it or not. But did he truly mean it?

_Relationships are too troublesome…_ he clenched his fist and glanced at the clock again. Three fifty-seven.

* * *

_**Day 95**_

"Are your bags all packed, dear?"

"Yes, mom." Ino sighed, "They're stacked in my room, like always, ready to go."

"Good." Her mom said as she finished packing and storing the last box. They weren't taking everything, apparently. A lot of boxes of book and other trinkets were going into storage. The apartment was going up for rent again, just like it had when they moved the first time when Ino was only a wee toddler. Her mother taped the box shut and stood back up straight, hands on her hips, looking down on her work in satisfaction. She looked back over to her daughter, who was solemnly poking at the corner of the lounge chair on the other end of the room. She frowned, "I'm sorry, sweetie. I know how much you love this place. But there's nothing we can do."

Ino shook her head and turned away, not saying a word. She was trying her best not to cry. Her mother put down her roll of packing tape and crossed the room, placing both hands on either of Ino's shoulders and squeezing them, "I'm sure Iwa will be nice, dear, you'll-"

"I'll make plenty of friends and love my new school. I know, mom. You say that every time."

"Everything will work out."

_Except it won't,_ she thought. She yanked her shoulders out of her mother's grip and walked back into her room to grab her school bag. Shikamaru wasn't going to be in Iwa. Neither would any of her friends here. She wasn't going to get the magical Christmas she had been looking forward to in only a couple of weeks. She wasn't going to get to experience Valentine's Day with her boyfriend. And prom? She was finally a junior, able to go to prom! But how could she do that if she was in Iwa, away from everyone she knew and loved?

The doorbell rang, and she her a muffled call from her mother, "Shikamaru's here to pick you up!"

She pulled on her backpack and grumbled. Shikamaru still wasn't speaking to her, at least not meaningfully. He would say hello and ask her how she was doing, but the car rides remained awkward and class seemed to droll on forever without him there to joke to. She knew she had screwed things up with him Monday, and wished she could turn back time so they could spend her last moments in Konoha happily together.

Instead she was stuck in one last awkward car ride. She would be leaving right after lunch period to catch her flight, and then the perfect relationship she had with Shikamaru would be no more.

* * *

Shikamaru wanted to say something. He wanted to whatever he could to make this day less depressing for Ino. He wanted everything that was bad to just _go away_. But he couldn't do it. He couldn't save her this time. Because this time, he for once had no idea what to do.

The car ride had been mortifying. Ino had only stared out the window the whole fifteen minutes it took to get to school, and the radio just _had_ to be on an endless stream of sad love songs. Not to mention that he seemed to be hitting _every_ _single red light._ Every time he had to stop he wanted to kill himself.

"You're not going to do anything?" Choji frowned during English. With winter break so near, the class was just finishing up their last novel, _The Bell Jar_, and getting ready to start preparing for exams. Class now was just a free for all, get your work finished period. And for once, Shikamaru had a lot of work to do, but couldn't find the concentration to do it.

"Huh?"

"You're not going to work on your assignments?" Choji pursed his lips, "I mean, I guess that makes sense, coming from you, but seriously man, I've never seen you with this much work to do!"

It was true. Shikamaru had his binder open and papers strewn all about his desk, all half finished. He was biting the cap of his pen so much that it had thousands of dents in it. Choji was concerned at this point, as well as slightly confused.

"Sorry, I thought you were talking about something else."

"Oh, like Ino?" Choji turned completely in his desk so he could speak more directly, "Like how she's leaving today and you're still not talking to her?"

"…yeah. That."

"You can't let this end badly, you know. You have to do something before she leaves. Hell, you could probably say something _now_. Kakashi won't care."

Shikamaru looked across the room at Ino. She wasn't bothering to do any work since she wasn't going to be here for the exam, so she was just doodling on a piece of paper while Sakura chatted idly with her as she finished her own assignment. Ino however, seemed to not be paying attention, and only nodded in a steady beat. This _would_ be a good time to tie loose ends, but…

"No buts, I can tell what you're thinking." Choji's brow furrowed, "You talk to her. Now."

Shikamaru sighed and got up, agreeing. Things had to be fixed, and they had to be fixed _quickly_. He began to cross the room; Ino sensed him approaching and looked up, slightly hopeful. She wasn't flinching, she wasn't trying to get away…

_Brrrring!_

The bell had rang. Shikamaru froze. She was only a few feet away! Why wasn't he _moving!?_

"Ino, we better get to lunch," Sakura said, packing her bag and standing up. She hadn't even noticed Shikamaru yet. "Come on!"

Ino nodded and grabbed her own bag, and got up to leave with her. She sent one last hopeful look to Shikamaru before setting off.

"Smooth man," Choji said to him, walking up behind the lazy boy with both of their bags in hand, "Real smooth."

"Lunch time." He mumbled, "I'll get her during lunch."

* * *

Lunch was even more awkward than usual.

The whole crew and gathered at Shikamaru's table to say goodbye to Ino. Naruto was cracking jokes, and Sakura was kindly laughing at each of them, despite how incredibly _not funny_ they were. Kiba, being nearly of the same IQ as Naruto, was guffawing beside him, with Hinata trying her best to understand what was so funny. Lee was dishing out as much "youthful wisdom" as he could to Ino, trying to help prepare her for the new road ahead. Neji and Tenten stood behind him shaking their heads and trying to send silent signals to her about what she _really_ should do. Even Sai had shown up momentarily, leaving her a small parting gift: a little flipbook he had drawn, animating her simply turning her head and smiling.

Choji and Shikamaru just sat across the circular table from the whole crowd, slowing eating and trying to figure out what to do.

"This isn't going as planned."

"Odd," Choji mumbled as he munched on his nachos, "Usually everything goes as planned for you."

"Yeah, well, things haven't been that great for me since Monday," he pursed his lips and sipped his soda.

Choji paused and looked at his friend questionably, "What _happened_ Monday, anyway? You never told me, all I hear is _Monday this_ and _Monday that_. _What was so bad about Monday!?_"

Shikamaru gritted his teeth, "She told me she loved me."

"Wooow. No wonder you're so out of it."

"Yeah."

"Hey, guys," Ino finally spoke up to everyone, trying to get them all to calm down, "Guys! Thanks for all the well wishes, seriously, but I'll be fine. I move all the time. In fact, I've even been to Iwa before!" She laughed. The group started to calm down some, and stared at her questionably, "Seriously! It was a long time ago but I still kind of remember it. I'll be _fine_."

"Well," Sakura smiled, and leaned over to hug her best friend, "I know you'll make it. And I know that you'll come back and visit, too."

"Of course."

"You could stay at Shikamaru's house, too! I'm sure he wouldn't mind, right Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru flinched; that comment felt like a stab in his back. It just reminded him of Monday, when Ino had tried to convince his mother to let her live there with them. Ino, however, just smiled sheepishly and looked away. Choji sent a deep stare to Shikamaru, which just seemed to twist that knife in his back. He knew he had to say something.

"…yeah," He managed a smile, "You could stay with us."

Sakura smiled, and shook Ino, "See? Come back for Christmas!"

"We'll see." Ino laughed. _We'll see._

Shikamaru opened his mouth to try and say something to her again, and she once again looked at him hopefully.

But then the lunch bell rang. His jaw shut as if on command.

"Well," Ino said, after the roar of the cafeteria grew with all the kids leaving to go to their respective classes, "I guess this is it, guys. My dad said he'd be picking me up at the end of lunch."

"I'm going to miss you so much, Ino." Sakura frowned.

"I'm going to miss you too," she smiled, although sadly, at everyone. "All of you." She laid her gaze on Shikamaru last. She stayed that way for a moment, before pushing back in her seat and standing up.

"Goodbye."

* * *

Gym was unbearable.

Friday was always dodgeball day, but the whole class seemed to be out of commission. The game was slow, boring… dull. No one was really putting any energy into it. Not even Lee.

Shikamaru sat on the sidelines, twiddling his thumbs. Ino had to have reached the airport by now, and was probably waiting through security. In about an hour or two, she'd be leaving Konoha for good, and he hadn't even given her a proper goodbye.

The thought of all of this was unbearable. He didn't want her to leave. He had planned out their Christmas together (as troublesome as that was, he had done it.). He had adored every moment he had with her, from the car rides to the phone calls to the dates they went on to the simple days they sat on his couch watching TV. He loved it when she came over to clean his room, so he could pretend he was asleep and watch her glide gracefully back and forth across the floor. He loved the shine of her ice blue eyes and golden hair. She couldn't leave. He didn't want her to.

He loved her too much.

He clenched his fists tightly, upset with himself. It took him _this long_ to figure it out, after she had left? Just in time for her flight to leave!

_Wait_, he thought, _just in time for her flight to leave..._

The plans began to formulate in his head again. He stood up and ran out of the gym.

"_Shikamaru!_" Gai roared, but didn't run after him, "Guess he just _really_ had to go to the bathroom…"

* * *

"_Now boarding for Flight 4A. All groups."_

"Honey, come on, we have to get on the plane."

"Be right there," Ino called back. She had been sitting in that uncomfortable airport seat for the last thirty or so minutes, simply staring at the security gates ahead, hoping for… a miracle. She sighed and picked up her bag, but hesitated when she felt something vibrate in her back pocket.

"Better turn this off," she reached into her pocket to pull out her cell phone, and flipped it open to see what it was. She had gotten a text message... from Shikamaru?

_Don't move._

"What?" She frowned. Wasn't he in class? Why would he be texting her?

"_Ino!_"

She froze. She knew that voice. But wasn't there something… slightly odd about it? How was this possible?

"_Ino!_"

She shook it off and put her phone away. She was imagining things. She took one last deep breath, got all of the bad thoughts out of her system, and swung her carry-on bag over her shoulder. She turned to go join her family on the plane, but something was blocking her way.

Shikamaru stood in front of her, panting, not five feet away.

Ino was awestruck, not quite sure what to do, "Why… what are you doing here?"

"Don't talk," he said, trying to catch his breath, "I have something I have to ask you, and it's important."

"What is it?"

He breathed in heavily once more, and exhaled his entire question, point blank, "Will you come stay with my family this year for Christmas?"

Ino's bag slid off her shoulder and nearly to the floor, but she was somehow able to catch it on her elbow before it did. "I'm confused. Is that why you came all the way here?"

"Yes," he said, finally catching his breath, "mostly." He reached a hand to his face to wipe his brow and finally relaxed into a comfortable stance, leaning back slightly. He gazed upon her, "Well?"

She readjusted her bag back onto her shoulder, and smiled, "Yes, I'd love to."

"And," he started again, before she could say anything else or try to get on her plane, "Will you be my date to prom in April?"

"You're _really_ asking me that now?" She laughed.

He smirked, "I always plan ahead."

"I'd love that, too. But did you really come all this way, even _skip class_, just to ask me this?" She raised an eyebrow, still smiling, but slightly confused, "You couldn't wait to call me?"

"I need to speak with you one last time before you left for good," he sighed, "We haven't spoken properly all week, and I'm very sorry for that. But I couldn't think straight anymore. I was too…" he paused, trying to figure out how to say it, "I don't know, upset. I _don't_ want you to leave, Ino." He stepped forward, closing the distance between them until their bodies nearly touched. He raised his hands to hold her face, and brushed his thumb across her cheek, "I don't want to lose you; I love you too much."

Her smile slowly grew into a grin, "You love me?"

"Yes." He smiled softly, "As troublesome as that is."

A tear came to her eye, and she raised her hands to her mouth, happy beyond belief, "Oh my god," she reached her arms around him and hugged him tightly, burying her face into his shirt, "I'm so happy. I love you so much!"

He chuckled and rested his head on the top of hers, "I know."

"_Final call for boarding on Flight 4A."_

"I have to go," she frowned, tightening her grip on him, "I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too," he rubbed the back of her neck and pulled her away so he could look into her blue eyes one last time, "Call me as soon as you land, and we'll talk about you coming for Christmas."

She smiled again, "Don't think for one second that I'll forget."

"Never dared," he laughed lightly, and continued to stare into her eyes. He leaned down to kiss her forehead one last time, but she tilted her head and their lips caught.

The kiss didn't last long; she broke away and grinned at him, "No goodbyes this time, I'll see you soon!" She secured her bag on her shoulder and hugged him one last time before finally running into the tunnel to her plane, right as the doors were about to close.

He stayed and watched her leave, all the way until her plane pulled out and drove away, down the runway, and took flight. It disappeared behind the clouds, which he swore were shaped just like flowers.

* * *

**Huh? What? There's an update to Another Month, Another Move? ….**_**what the hell is that fanfic!?**_

**Oh, this one? Ah. I see. I thought it died.**

**WELL SO DID I GUYS. But I've actually been getting reviews for it lately, and everyone has been begging for it to be finished, and I felt REALLY BAD, so I finally finished this last chapter, pffft. Hope it wasn't too terrible.**

**However, I still want to do an epilogue, and I SWEAR I WILL. I've got a whole, free weekend ahead of me, and I've been planning and thinking about it for a long time, so I promise to get it done soon!**

**EVERY TIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING YOUR FAVORITE FICS DIE AND ARE NEVER FINISHED!**

**Huh, kinda like this one?**

**EXCEPT NOT.**


	28. Epilogue: Together Again

_**A Year and a Half Later…**_

It was a beautiful summer's day in Konoha. The sun was shining, the birds were singing. Residents everywhere were enjoying the morning outside, walking or visiting the parks before the temperature got to high. Everyone was outside, having a great time.

Except for Nara Shikamaru, who was trying to fit a few last winks of sleep in before his mother broke down his door… again.

However, the bright sun rays were nearly too much for his eyes to handle. It didn't help that his blinds weren't thick enough to block all the light from getting into his room. Of course, most teenagers are out of bed by 10:30 in the morning, so no one really ever bothered to make such strong blinds. The lazy boy tried his best to block the sun out by smashing his face into his pillow.

But the sandman wasn't on his side today, because his cell phone rang just that moment to wake him up.

"_I'd Do Anything / Just to hold you in my arms-"_

_Ugggh_, he thought, not bothering to lift his head from the pillow, and just reaching to his nightstand for his phone, _I know that ring tone…_

"Hello?" He said, voice muffled by his pillow. He shifted in bed slightly to be more easily understood, but still didn't open his eyes. He rubbed his brow; he got his reply instantly.

"Hey, they just let us use our phones again. I have Baggage Claim area A; we're gate 3. You're coming to pick me up still, right?"

"Uh huh." He mumbled.

"Great! I'll see you in a little bit." She paused, "And get out of bed _now_. Don't be late."

"Uh huh, see you." He yawned and turned off his phone, then covered his face with his pillow again. A few more minutes wouldn't hurt….

His phone vibrated in his hand. He grumbled, knowing it was a text message, and bothered to open his eyes to check it.

_Get out of your bed and come pick me up you lazy ass!_

He laughed and shut his phone, then got up to go to the bathroom. She knew him so well.

* * *

The Christmas that was planned a year and a half prior had gone… _almost_ without fail. Once Ino had mentioned it to her father (which was promptly when she sat on the plane with him), he blew up in rage and came up with at least twenty different excuses for why she _shouldn't_ go. However, after a few days of careful evidence and arguing, Ino and her mother convinced Inoichi to allow her to spend winter break with the Naras. For two weeks she was able to sit around lazily with her boyfriend again, watching TV and cleaning his room.

After that break they hadn't seen each other again until prom. Ino didn't care about Iwa's prom, since she had no real friends there, so of course she bought the perfect _purple_ dress and attended Konoha's dance instead. It took a while to convince Shikamaru to go (despite him having already proposed the idea himself), but everything worked out still. She even got him to dance some.

But after that April, the couple began to suffer a lack of communication. Both had to figure out what to do about college, what to maybe major in, and how to pay for it all. They applied to most of the same colleges, but Ino obviously didn't compare to Shikamaru's mental ability and didn't get accepted to as many schools as he did. Eventually, they found a solution: Shikamaru had gotten a full ride scholarship to Kishimoto Univesity, about an hour outside of Konoha. Ino got accepted there as well, but in order to pay for it had to work hard to earn scholarship money. She spent the next year working on a portfolio of art and design, and eventually earned a modest art scholarship that was enough to convince her parents that this school was the right choice.

Fall classes started in September, which was only two weeks away. But Ino was impatient to return home to Konoha, so requested to come earlier. Her plane had just landed, and now Shikamaru was driving down the highway towards the airport to pick her up for her mini-vacation before school began. For the next two weeks she'd be staying with the Naras, just chilling until classes in September.

He walked into the baggage claim room an instantly spotted her not too far away, her back turned to him and watching the suitcases go by on the electric rack. He smirked and quietly approached her.

"_Boo._" He said quietly into her left ear from just behind. She flinched slightly and turned her head to see who had snuck up on her, then instantly squealed and in one quick moment had her arms tightly woven around his neck and her lips crushed against his. He kissed her back even more fervently.

"_Shikamaru!_" She cheered when she pulled away, completely ignoring the fact that he had tried to surprise her, "I've missed you _so much!_"

"I know, I know," he laughed, "it was clear from your fifty plus text messages a day. I had to get a whole new messaging plan because of you, remember?"

"It's only _natural_," she rolled her eyes, "Don't tell me you didn't miss me too."

"Don't even joke about that," he nearly glared, "You _know_ I did." With Ino gone, Shikamaru had an even harder time dealing with everyday life. She was the reason he got out of bed every morning back when she lived in the area (aside from his mother yelling at him when he slept in past noon).

She smiled, "I know."

"Good." He loosened his embrace on her so they could stand next to one another watching the luggage rack, "Where's your suitcase?"

"Ahh…" she mumbled, looking around. She finally spotted a suitcase that had just entered the rack, "There!"

Shikamaru frowned. The suitcase was incredibly large (and purple, of course, but that's not important), larger than any suitcase _his_ family owned, "What's _in_ that thing?"

"Oh, you know, clothes, make up, hair dryer, flat iron," she rambled on a long list, "shoes-"

"Okay, okay, got it." He walked up to the line and grabbed it, nearly falling over when he finally lugged it off the electric line, "Is this the only one?"

"Are you _kidding?_ No! I still have two more to find!"

Shikamaru groaned.

After dropping off all of Ino's luggage at Shikamaru's house (his mother refused to help him, or to allow his father to help him. Yoshino wanted Shikamaru to learn from this), they headed out to Starbucks to meet up with some friends. They were the first ones there, but after they got their drinks someone finally showed up.

"_Sakura!_"

"_Ino!"_

Ino cheered in delight and shoved he frappachino into Shikamaru's hand so she could run up and hug her best friend. The two girls jumped and cheered together, happy to see one another again.

"How was Ame? Did you like it there?"

"It rained. A lot." Ino rolled her eyes, "And it's no Konoha."

After leaving Konoha, Ino's family had stayed in Iwa for about seven months before moving again to the city of Ame. Her parents were still situated there right now, and would be coming to Konoha to help Ino settle into her dorm room come September.

Speaking of which, Sakura would be attending Kishimoto University with Shikamaru and Ino that following month, and was even going to be rooming with Ino. She had finally decided this past year that she would be going into Pre-Med after a long, grueling process of trying to decide what her use was in life.

"So hey, how's Naruto?" Ino laughed.

"Oh, you know," Sakura sighed, "Looking for ways to yell at and beat up Sasuke, trying not to get into trouble but failing miserably, the usual. But lately he's just been upset about college."

Naruto, unlike many of the people in their little circle of friends, hadn't gotten into a university and would be attending Konoha Community College instead in the fall. He was incredibly upset about not being able to go to the same school as his girlfriend Sakura, but she was sure that he would come and visit whenever he had the chance. On top of that, his arch rival Sasuke had graduated from Oto Academy with top honors and was going to be attending one of the most prestigious universities in the world, so Naruto was always grumbling about this horrible turn of events.

As Ino and Sakura continued catching up, Shikamaru sat down on the sofa at the side of the coffee shop and closed his eyes, sighing. It was about then that Choji showed up.

"Hey man," Shikamaru greeted his best friend, who waved and sat down with him, "Not gonna get something to eat?"

"In a minute," Choji replied, "Depends on how long the girls there are squealing at each other; I was going to say hello to Ino first…" Choji was also attending Kishimoto University in the fall and planning on rooming with Shikamaru.

"May be a while, they haven't seen one another since April." It was true. Despite the lack of communication, Ino managed to find her way back to Konoha to visit during the Christmas and Prom of their senior year. But that had all been ages ago, so she of _course_ had a lot of talking to do.

The rest of her friends eventually filed into the Starbucks. Kiba and Hinata showed up first after Sakura, neither of whom would be attending college with Ino and Shikamaru. Kiba was going to be a community college with Naruto (but was a lot more calm about it. He had seen it coming, after all), and Hinata was being sent off to an expensive institute that her cousin Neji was already attending. Lee showed up next; he had earned a track scholarship the year prior and was already enrolled at Kishimoto with Tenten (who arrived next with Neji.) Finally Naruto stepped into the coffee establishment, extremely unhappy (as he grew more so the closer Sepetember got), and instantly seeking Sakura for comfort.

With the whole gang there (the baristas were slightly surprised with such an influx; but then again, this IS Starbucks), Ino finally felt at home again. Leaving Sakura with her boyfriend, she collapsed onto the sofa between Shikamaru and Choji and took her frappachino, then burrowed herself as close into her boyfriend's embrace, who had already wrapped his free arm around her. She took a sip of her drink and smiled and Choji.

"It's nice to see you again!"

"You too," he smiled back, "Now excuse me as I get some food."

The two watched Choji leave to get in line before they turned their attention back to one another. Ino's smiled widened, "I'm so happy to be back."

"You look happy," Shikamaru laughed and drank his mocha espresso, "And it's making me happy to see you happy."

"Good." She laughed. She closed her eyes and leaned her head onto his chest, enjoying the moment. Shikamaru ran a hand through her ponytail and averted his gaze over to the door.

"Oh _great_."

"What?" Ino opened her eyes again and looked up at Shikamaru's face, which was masked in a glare directed straight at the most recent entrant into the shop. She followed his gaze and repeated his groan.

"Oh _great_."

"Is that really a way to greet an old friend?" Sai smiled mysteriously, "I didn't know you were back in town Miss Yamanaka."

"Arrived today." Shikamaru answered for her, "What do you want?"

"I can honestly promise you that I did not know you would be having a…" he looked around and surveyed the room, "_gathering_ here. I only stopped by to get a drink before heading home. I have work to do, you know."

"What kind of work?" Ino asked, curious.

"Art work. I have a scholarship to maintain." He grinned, "Full ride to the Masashi Art Institute."

Shikamaru grunted, and Ino rolled her eyes, "Congratulations."

"Thank you," he nodded, "And welcome home." He turned away from them and got in line.

"Shikamaru, you have to let the past go," Ino scolded, elbowing him in the rib. He flinched but didn't say anything, obviously still annoyed. "That was a year and a half ago."

He still didn't respond. Ino laughed and sipped her drink again, before allowing her gaze to pass over the doorway again. She halted, and let out a sustained groan. Shikamaru followed her stare and laughed audibly.

"You have to let the past go, Ino."

Ino scowled at him, because there in the doorway stood Temari and her younger brother, Gaara. Gaara looked at them and then quickly looked away, ignoring the couple and heading straight for the line. Temari, however, lingered.

"Still together, I see."

"Yes." Ino frowned, "Why are you here?"

"Why does anyone walk into Starbucks? To get coffee." She laughed, "I thought I heard a whisper around here about you coming back, Yamanaka."

While Ino grumbled, Shikamaru decided to speak up, being just a casual as she had just been with Sai, "And what have you been up to?"

Temari smiled at him, "Went back to Suna, you know; attending college there. Gaara is too; today I actually came to pick him up and take him home, but he wanted to stop by here."

Ino looked across the room at the line, where Naruto was grinning widely and patting Gaara on the back, who looked slightly uncomfortable but still rather pleased. She smiled slightly, but frowned again when she looked back at Temari.

"Good luck to you both," Shikamaru nodded.

"Thanks. You too." She eyed Ino and smirked before leaving to retrieve her brother. Ino growled.

"You calm down, now."

"You shut up."

He laughed and reached to brush the bangs out of her face so he could see both of her icy blue eyes, "You _know_ that I love you, and nothing is tearing us apart again."

She couldn't help but smile, "Especially not a move. I'm looking forward to spending the next four years in_ one place_."

"And I'm looking forward to having you there."

He kissed her again, and she knew that his words were true.

* * *

September came. Ino was moving into her dorm finally at Kishimoto Univesity with Sakura. Her father had arrived and was lugging the boxes full of the items she had left at their house in Ame into the new residence.

"Another month, Another move." She said, looking at the door to her new dorm. She smiled.

Change was good.

* * *

**THE. END.**

**Thanks for reading this guys, and thanks for all the reviews. I've had a great time writing this and I hope you've all had an equally great time reading it! I AM glad I finished it, though. Like, no doubt. I feel accomplished.**

**So hey, you know…**

**EVERY TIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING, NARUTO GET CANCELED.**

**Oh no she **_**didn't.**_


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